


LARP is Strange

by XavierTeatime



Category: Life Is Strange (Video Game)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-30
Updated: 2017-11-19
Packaged: 2019-01-26 11:27:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 22,748
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12556416
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/XavierTeatime/pseuds/XavierTeatime
Summary: A weekend escape from Arcadia Bay with her new friend/girlfriend/it's complicated Rachel sounded perfect to Chloe.Except for the fact that Steph and Mikey would also be there.And 36 nerds from across Oregon.Running around in a forest doing a goddamn LARP.Oh well. Looks like Barb the Barbarian is back, bitches.





	1. Roll Initiative

Chloe’s phone buzzed from across the room.

She couldn’t remember the last time she had dove for it so quickly. After Max had moved, she had spent months obsessively checking her phone for texts, but had slowly learned to abandon the habit. Ever since then, the only people who regularly texted her were Frank whining about money, Justin whining about free pot, or Elliot whining...just generally whining.

But now she had Rachel, and hearing the phone come to life with a new message made her heart leap out of her chest.

She fumbled with the phone, snapped it open, and saw…

Steph Gingrich?

“Barb - have a proposition for you. Meet me in the park?”

Chloe blinked at it a few times. Steph was friendly enough, though being referred to as a fictional Elf Barbarian she had pretended to be one time was going to get old fast. Great, she probably needed more fodder for one of her Dungeons and Dragons games with Mikey.

The one fragment of a game she had played had been...an interesting experience, sure, but not one she felt particularly compelled to repeat. Especially when she was still hoping Rachel would text her and ask her to hang out, or run away, or watch paint dry together. Literally anything.

“Sorry, Barb is dead and Chloe is busy”

Her thumb hovered over the ‘send’ button.

“If you ever want to talk to me, Chloe, you know you can, right?”

Steph had said this to her yesterday, after asking Chloe if Rachel was single, and after Chloe had babbled awkward word salad in response. Maybe...maybe that was actually a good offer to take her up on. Hell, maybe that’s what Steph was even texting her about.

Maybe she was going to get inducted into some Blackwell Lesbians Witches Coven or something.

That could be neat.

“Barb reporting in from Elf Heaven. Sure be there in 20”

She hit send.

 

On the twenty minute walk to the park, she checked her phone approximately 47,000 times to make sure Rachel hadn’t texted her with conflicting plans. But no, her maybe-sort-of-it’s-complicated-girlfriend-question-mark was apparently busy this lovely afternoon. Oh well. Her loss!

She could see Steph’s telltale beanie at a picnic table on the far end of the park. WIth a sigh, she realized Mikey was there too. Sure, Mikey was nice and all, but his presence would make the “I Kissed A Girl And I Liked It” talk a bit more awkward.

As they didn’t seem to see her coming, she decided to crouch down and approach them from behind as quietly as she could. At the last moment she jumped up and leapt over the table, before sliding into the seat opposite them. Mikey nearly jumped out of his skin, but Steph merely laughed.

“She lives! Nice stealth roll, Chloe,” Steph said with a lopsided smirk.

“Y-yeah...real great…” Mikey added, a hand over his heart.

“So, what’s up? Shenanigans? Tomfoolery? Surely not hijinks?” Chloe asked, banging a drum beat on the wooden table with her palms. Damn she was in a good mood. How long did post-theater highs usually last?

Steph laughed, as Mikey finally regained his composure and turned back to the notebook in front of him. “Don’t worry, Chloe, we’ll get to all that. Just waiting on Rachel first. I’m kind of surprised you didn’t come together, actually.”

Chloe stopped her epic drum solo and looked up at Steph. “Huh? Rachel is coming?”

Steph quirked a brow. “Sorry, I guess I assumed you two were conjoined at the hip these days. Yeah, she’s coming-- hey, speak of the Devil. Or the Duchess, at any rate.”

A car had just pulled up along the street outside the park, and Rachel had gotten out. Whoever was driving was attempting to say something to her, but she angrily slammed the door and stormed off.

As the car pulled away, Rachel underwent an instantaneous transformation, from fuming child to carefree teen. Chloe was almost concerned by how good she was at spontaneously adopting a new persona, except that concern was quickly overpowered by awe at Rachel’s unending radiance and beauty.

“Sorry I’m late,” Rachel said, brushing a bit of hair out of her face. “You didn’t have too much fun without me, did you?”

“No fun at all, I assure you,” Steph replied, returning the smile. Chloe looked between the two other girls.

“Okay, I feel like I’m the only one out of the loop here,” she said. “What are we doing, exactly? Not that I have anything better to do, whatever it is,” she hastily added, giving Rachel a nervous smile.

“Ooh, can I tell her? Please?” Rachel asked, looking mischievously at Steph, who chuckled and shrugged. Rachel clapped excitedly, and turned to Chloe, grasping her by the arm. Chloe felt herself blushing.

“How would you like to get out of Arcadia Bay?” she asked. Before Chloe could respond, she quickly added, “for a weekend. Think of it as...a trial run. A pre-adventure before our Big Adventure. Just you, and me, all alone, miles away from this hellhole…”

Chloe couldn’t help but grin. “Uh, yeah. That sounds awesome, obviously. Sign me the hell up.”

“Hooray!” Rachel said, doing a little dramatic spin. “Oh, and by ‘just you and me,’ I mean obviously Steph and Mikey will be there too.”

“Uhh,” Chloe said.

“And 36 other people,” Mikey chimed in.

“Uhhhhh,” Chloe said.

“And by pre-adventure she means a LARP,” Steph explained. “We’re inviting you both to our yearly LARP in Warrenton.”

“Uhhhhhhhhh,” Chloe said.

“Oh, come on!” Rachel pleaded. “Steph told me all about how badass you were in that game of DnD you played. This is just like that, only with improv, and character acting, and dressing up in crazy costumes!”

“Rachel,” Chloe said, putting a hand up to her forehead. “Just slow your roll for a second. Isn’t this all a little...uh...nerdy?”

“We can hear you,” Mikey said.

“Who cares?” Rachel said with a shrug. “It’s a new experience! I’ve never done this before, and I know you haven’t either. We can make it fun! I bet these nerds have never seen anything like Chloe Price before.” She leaned in and grabbed Chloe’s hands in hers, holding them up pleadingly. “Trust me, no one else from Blackwell will be there. You’ll still be Queen Bitch as far as anyone back here is concerned.”

“Oh, good,” Chloe said sarcastically. “My reputation as an expelled delinquent took a lot of cultivating.”

Rachel lowered her voice, speaking just softly enough for only Chloe to hear. “Besides, we’ll be camping out in a forest together for two nights. I’m sure we can make THAT fun, if nothing else is.”

Chloe waited a moment for the blood to drain out of her face, then coughed and said, “yeah, uh, yeah, two girls sleeping together in a forest surrounded by 40 virgin nerd dudes who’d literally kill each other for the chance to spy on us sounds like the most romantic thing I can imagine.”

Rachel pulled her hands away. Her mood swings could be intense and volatile, and while her swings towards joy filled Chloe with butterflies, now she was swinging back towards anger, and filling Chloe with dread.

“If you don’t want to go, just say so,” she snapped. “Steph and I can have plenty of fun without you.”

Chloe looked to Steph, who was trying very hard to appear as if she wasn’t listening in. Then she looked back to Rachel...saw that angry, betrayed look on her face, the same she had worn when she slammed the car door and stormed away from whichever parent had driven her to the park…

It dawned on Chloe that Rachel needed to get away for a few days. It didn’t matter where she went or what she did. This was just the easiest and quickest out for her. And she wanted Chloe, out of everyone in the world, to be there with her.

Chloe turned around and climbed up on the picnic table. Rachel did oh so love displays of melodrama.

“Barb the elf will join your party!” she shouted.

“Barb the elf is dead,” Mikey pointed out.

“That was Barb’s twin sister, who was also named Barb.”

“Oh.”

“With the four of us together, we’ll be unstoppable!” Chloe continued. She saw how happy Rachel looked and it made everything worth it. “Let’s go kill some nerds!”

A group of kids playing Magic: The Gathering at a nearby table stopped and looked over at that exclamation.

“Metaphorically!” Steph shouted, awkwardly.

“We’re not serial killers,” Mikey added.

The nerds looked unconvinced but turned back to their game.

Chloe jumped down off the table, stumbled a bit on the landing, but spun around in attempt to make it all look perfectly choreographed.

“I can nab some costume supplies from the theater department,” Rachel said. “I’ll need to work on my character too. Or maybe I’ll just wing it. That’s always fun!”

“You’ll need ears, Barb,” Mikey pointed out, examining Chloe critically.

“WHAT? I CAN’T HEAR YOU, DUE TO MY LACK OF EARS,” Chloe responded.

“I meant ELF ears, Your Hilariousness.”

Chloe cringed slightly at the thought. Oh, Gods, they were really serious about all this…

“It’ll be a good time, Chloe,” Rachel said, suddenly beside her again. “I promise.”

Chloe looked at her. If Rachel jumped off a bridge, would you follow?

Yep.

“Yeah,” she said with a weak smile. “I know.”


	2. Talking is a Free Action

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much to everyone for the kudos and comments on chapter 1. As today is Halloween, please enjoy this special SPOOKTACULAR chapter! (Disclaimer: this chapter has nothing to do with Halloween and is in no way Spooktacular. I'm so sorry.)

Chloe hated LARPing.

Okay, so she hadn’t actually tried it yet, but her alarm was going off at six in the morning, and anything that made her get up this early? She hated.

The night had been spent crashing on the floor of Steph’s bedroom. Her parents were considerably more chill than Rachel’s at the moment, and she still wasn’t quite ready to face the giant fuzzy dildo LARPing as a human being named David.

“Chlooooeeeee,” Steph cooed from somewhere above her.

“What? I’m not a morning person. I’m barely even a person at any time of the day, but I am particularly irritable in the morning. I can never seem to fall asleep before 2 AM no matter how tired I am. Sunlight is poison and birds are a bunch of chirpy assholes with nothing interesting to say.”

That’s what Chloe tried to articulate.

Somewhere between her brain and her mouth, it turned into, “Mmmmrrruhhhmmphpbbt.”

“C’mon, Chloe! Rise and shine. Our bus leaves at 8.”

“So wake me up at 7:55,” Chloe mumbled, rolling over and stuffing her face into the spare pillow she had slept on.

She was now moving, which was not something she had intended to do. Steph had grabbed hold of her foot and was dragging her across the floor.

“Nooooo,” Chloe groaned.

“You’re going to want a hot shower,” Steph said. “You won’t be getting one for the next few days. Then get dressed, pack up your shit, and meet me out front.”

“Why did I agree to this?” Chloe asked the world with a sigh. “Curse you, Rachel Amber, and your beautiful, stupid, awful, wonderful face.”

She grumbled her way through a shower, grumbled a comb through her hair, grumbled her clothes on, grumbled all her earthly possessions into a faded old backpack, and grumbled on down the stairs to Steph’s front porch.

It was a half hour walk to the bus stop. Chloe pulled out her phone to check the time, and saw it wasn’t even 7 yet.

“I could’ve slept for another half hour, easily,” she grumbled.

“Nothing wrong with being proactive,” Steph said. While Chloe felt like a barely sentient pile of flaming garbage, Steph looked cool and collected. And while she was no Rachel, she was definitely still a catch.

Chloe realized she was staring, and Steph was staring back.

“I need coffee,” she quickly said, hoping to quickly move the conversation along.

“There’ll be some at the bus stop,” Steph said. “Shitty coffee, but coffee. So, you weren’t your usual talkative self last night. Anything on your mind?”

Bluff check failed, Chloe thought to herself.

“Uhhh,” she said. “I guess just...girl...stuff?”

“Like, shoes and cute boys and, like, totally whatever?” Steph asked, switching into a surprisingly convincing valley girl accent.

Chloe chuckled. “Yeah...more or less.”

Steph gave her an unconvinced look, then turned away.

C’mon, Chloe, what the fuck? She chided herself. You’re alone with literally the best possible person to understand what you’re going through. I think I might be gay. Just say it! What, are you worried she’ll get angry at you for stealing her schtick?

“Steph, I think I’m guhhhh,” she blurted out.

“Huh?” Steph asked, turning back around to look at her again.

“Guhhhhooooing to have a great time LARPing with you,” Chloe said. “I’m sorry I was such a bitch before. You’ve been a good friend while almost everything else in my life has been turning into shit.”

Coward!

“Aw, you’re welcome, Chloe,” Steph said, patting her on the shoulder. “Glad I could be here. It’s a shame we never hung out that much before. But I know you’re going through a tough time, what with getting expelled, and your mom’s asshole boyfriend moving in, and realizing you’re gay.”

“Y--” Chloe began.

“I think I knew before you did, dude,” Steph said, as if reading her mind. She grinned. “Can’t say I’m not a little jealous you came right out of the closet and straight into Rachel Amber’s arms, but hey, game recognize game.”

Chloe didn’t say anything. She just walked along, staring blankly at her shoes.

“...Sorry,” Steph said. “I guess I can take for granted sometimes how easy it was for me. I know it’s not a laughing matter for everyone. But you’ll be okay, I promise. Anyone who matters will still like you just the same.”

Chloe let out a long sigh. “Thanks, Steph. That...helps, actually.”

They were both surprised to see that Rachel was already at the bus stop, the only one there aside from a lone attendant who was snoozing in a metal folding chair. She was currently playing a game of Snake on her phone, oblivious to the world, but looking so beautiful for 7:30 AM that Chloe felt the urge to run and hide rather than befoul her with her own unkempt presence.

She looked up, smiled, and Chloe’s legs turned to gelatin.

“Morning, ladies,” she said, hefting up a large suitcase and heading over towards them. “You’re going to flip when you see all the supplies I nabbed. Clothes, accessories, makeup - we won’t even recognize ourselves!”

“Not being recognized sounds good to me,” Chloe said with a nervous laugh.

“Your character is named Barb, right?” Rachel asked, turning to her. “Forget Barb the Barbarian. You’ll be Barb the Beautiful, and you’ll entrance all the Elven lads and lasses across the land.”

“Ahahaha,” Chloe babbled.

“Speaking of Elven lasses, I got us all ears,” Rachel said, reaching into her back and pulling out a string of pointy ear props. In their current state they looked like a ghoulish trophy necklace. “Leaving Arcadia Bay for the weekend is a start, but if we can leave the Human race behind while we’re at it, I’m going for it.”

“Poor Elamon will have to represent the Human race without us,” Steph said, chuckling as she took some ears.

“He’s going as Elamon again?” Chloe asked, as Rachel handed her the last of the ears.

“Mikey ALWAYS goes as Elamon,” Steph said, rolling her eyes. “I swear he’s been levelling up that wizard since before he could walk. If he’s ever killed off, he’s going to need therapy.”

“Yowch,” Chloe said, remembering how close it had come to that during their last game. “Uh, what happens if you die, anyway?”

“If you die in the LARP, you die in real life,” Rachel said, with a spooky giggle. Chloe gave her a light punch in the arm.

“You have to lay down where you died for the rest of the Act, which usually ends around 8 at night,” Steph explained.

“Shit, really?”

“It’s incentive to try not to die.”

“Duly noted…”

“Worry not, fair maidens!”

The voice was so assured and commanding that for a moment Chloe forgot who else they were expecting. In unison, the three ladies turned…

And there, before them, stood Elamon, Wizard of the Third Circle, Advisor to King Tiberius, Defender of Avernon, Slayer of Duurgaron the Unscarred.

Mikey wasn’t just dressed the part. He was living the part.

Normally Mikey was so tiny that Chloe worried a strong enough gust of wind would break him in half. But something about the way he was holding himself made him look a foot taller and 20 pounds tougher.

She never would have thought wearing a bathrobe in public could IMPROVE someone’s self-confidence.

“I apologize for my delay. I had business of a most urgent nature, but I rejoice to see I have not yet missed our chariot’s departure.”

Chloe and Rachel gave him a blank stare, until Steph whispered, “he was eating breakfast, but made it here before the bus left.”

“I’ve got my robes interwoven with spell reflective wards, my staff to increase my magicka regeneration, and this…” he reached down and pulled out a silver necklace. Chloe gaped when she saw it, knowing that Mikey’s family wasn’t exactly rolling in dough. “My lucky necklace. My dad gave it to me, and I’ve never lost a character since I started wearing it.”

“Damn, you’re hardcore, Mi-- uh, Elamon,” Chloe said. “I sure feel underdressed now. Is everyone there going to be this...into it?”

“We’re actually on the more casual side of things,” Steph said. “Some of the people there are intense. Like, really intense.”

“I like intensity,” Rachel said, her eyes sparkling.

“Then can’t we just do some cocaine or something instead?” Chloe asked.

The security guard, formerly sound asleep on his folding chair, had apparently woken up, and cleared his throat irritably at the wanton discussion of hard drugs.

“Kidding! I’m kidding, shit,” Chloe snapped. Then, more quietly, she added, “I don’t even have any weed.” She paused a moment, then put her head in her hands. “Fuuuuck, I don’t have any weed.”

Rachel gave her a comforting pat on the back. “There, there, we’ll pull through this tragedy somehow.”

“Hark!” Mikey called out, as the bus finally came around the bend. “Gather thy inventory, it is time for our journey to begin!”

The bus pulled up, the doors opened, and the driver looked down at the dramatically posed wizard.

“I hate my job,” he muttered, as the four teens hauled their luggage up and into the bus, which was currently empty except for a heavily bearded man in rune-covered robes sleeping near the back.

“Is that another LARPer, or just a normal bus weirdo?” Chloe asked, as she slid into a window seat.

“Oh, I remember him from last year,” Steph mused. “He’s a Druid. Really committed to the True Neutral alignment. Never even saw him join a fight for either side.”

“Those who do not fight for the forces of good are actively aiding the forces of evil with their cowardice!” Mikey said, loudly enough that Chloe was surprised it didn’t wake the slumbering Druid. She sat turned around in her seat, watching him. Something was nagging at the back of her mind…

Rachel slid in next to her, and Steph and Mikey took the two seats one row in front, though they sat facing backwards to continue the conversation.

“So, we’re good guys, are we? I tend to identify more with the morally gray,” Rachel said. She shot a knowing look sidelong at Chloe.

“I cannot control your morality, but yes, I strongly encourage you to join me in the fight against evil,” Mikey answered.

“He has a rival who always leads the evil forces,” Steph explained.

“Beryn Garth,” Mikey growled. “A once-noble Paladin who fell to the corrupting influence of the Spider Goddess Aesar. I have failed to truly defeat him for four years in a row.”

“Remember when I said some of these guys are really intense?” Steph went on. “Beryn Garth is the intensest. Most of the people who’ll be there are teenagers, but he’s, like, 35.”

“I have been using my network of spies--” Mikey began.

“Facebook--” Steph interrupted.

“--In an attempt to find any psychological weaknesses to use against him, but alas, his life is perfect.”

“A 35 year old who LARPs with teenagers in a forest? Yeah, that sure sounds perfect,” Chloe said, with sarcasm that shot right past Mikey.

“Anyway, it’s about a two hour bus ride, so I recommend you work on your character sheets,” Steph said, pulling out notebooks and pencils for all of them. “Once we get there we’re going to have to get into costume quick and report to the opening ceremony.”

“Good Lord,” Chloe gasped, looking down at the character sheet she had been handed. So many boxes…

She looked over at Rachel, who was dutifully filling hers in. This was just another class for her to ace, while Chloe slept in the back and doodled on her desk. She half anticipated Steph to mark up her character sheet with red pen, and write “you’re not living up to your potential - you can do better!” just like every teacher at Blackwell.

She banged her forehead against the window, enjoying the feel of the cold glass against her skin, and watched the scenery spin by. She hadn’t even remembered to get her coffee. Fuck.

Rachel stopped working on her character sheet, and leaned over to rest her head on Chloe’s shoulder. That was...nice. No matter what, this weekend wouldn’t be all bad.

“Look!” Rachel suddenly said, while nuzzling against Chloe. “Have you ever seen anything so beautiful?”

Chloe looked up, and saw a sign ahead of them, getting ever closer. “Thanks for visiting Arcadia Bay!” it read. And then it was behind them.

They were out.

Chloe wrapped an arm around Rachel and got comfortable.


	3. Gear Check

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all so much for your continued support <3

Chloe Price hadn’t exactly lived a charmed life, but getting naked in a porta potty might still have been a new low.

She had fallen asleep on the bus, and Rachel had fallen asleep on top of her, which had been surprisingly cozy. She awoke at the sudden jolt of not moving anymore, and looked around hurriedly. Steph and Mikey were talking quietly. The Druid that had been their only other bus companion was already gone. Rachel slowly lifted her head up and blinked rapidly as Chloe moved about under her.

“Mm, sorry,” Rachel said with a yawn, pawing playfully at Chloe’s shoulder. “Good thing I’m not a heavy drooler.”

“Yeah, wouldn’t want you making me all wet,” Chloe said, and then cringed at herself. What the fuck, brain?

She looked down at her character sheet.

Name: Barb

Race: Elf

Class: Barbarian

Abilities: Badassery, Punching?, Getting Stabbed

Inventory: Pointy Ears (Good For Stabbing?), Fists (BARB MEGA PUNCH)

Under “Religion:” she had drawn a stick figure version of herself being worshipped by a crowd of stick figure nerds.

“I think...I totally fucked up,” Chloe said to Rachel, looking down at the character sheet with a nervous laugh. Rachel gave it a quick look.

“Yeah, I dunno, Barb Mega Punch? Is that even fair? I mean, once you bust that out, it’s pretty much all over, the bad guys don’t stand a chance.” Chloe couldn’t help but grin.

Steph heard them giggling, and turned around in her seat. Spotting Chloe’s character sheet, she sighed. “Just...just borrow one of mine. I always carry spares.”

“Uhh, thanks. Sorry,” Chloe said, rather sheepishly.

“Alright, let’s go!” Rachel said, standing up and stretching in the aisle of the bus. “Chloe, seriously, you’re going to scream when you see yourself in the outfit I got for you.”

“When I see mys-Elf?” Chloe said. She looked around at three blank faces. “Nevermind.”

And now she was naked in a porta potty.

“Are you done in there?” Rachel called from outside.

“Give me a fucking second! It’s...slimy! Why is it so slimy in here!?”

She fumbled for the bag of clothing Rachel had labeled “CHLOE <3” (even a hastily drawn heart made her blush like a goddamn beet).

"Rachel?"

“Yes, Chloe?”

“I’m not fucking wearing this.”

“Chloe! Don’t make me come in there!”

“It’s...fuzzy!”

“You’re a Barbarian!”

“There’s no...ahem...support.”

“BARbarian, Chloe, not BRAbarian.”

“Oh my God.”

With a resigned sigh, she opened the door and stepped out into the fresh air and blazing morning light.

She was wearing a long skirt made of leather strips and attached leggings, and a loose-fitting vest made of faux animal furs.

And that was it. She was no prude, but this seemed...a little gratuitous.

“Can I at least put on a hoodie or something?” she asked, still blinking the tears out of her eyes from the sunlight. “I’m freezing.”

“Chloe!” Rachel said again, and there was something in her voice, something that Chloe couldn’t quite place.

“What?” Chloe asked, covering herself up with her arms.

“You look...stunning.”

Chloe saw in Rachel’s eyes the same look Chloe herself got when she looked at Rachel.

“I’m going to drag you into the forest and rip your clothes off with my teeth,” Chloe said, but thankfully somewhere between brain and mouth, it turned into, “Uhhhehehehe, th-thanks?”

She looked Rachel up and down, and squinted. Between being a vampire who withered and died under the intense heat of the sun, and also just a self-conscious mess focused on her own apparel, she hadn’t even noticed that Rachel was already in costume as well.

Rachel’s outfit was pitch black, and clung tightly to her, accentuating the curves of her body. She had modified it with the fake down from Chloe’s Tempest costume.

“I am Quen the Raven,” she announced. “Thief, smuggler, and acrobat extraordinaire. I put all of my points into stealth and deception. By the time anyone knows I’m there--” she made a quick stabbing motion with her right hand “--it’ll be too late.”

Chloe stared at her.

“What do you think? Do you like it?”

Chloe stared at her.

“Chloe?”

“You’re beautiful,” she said softly, and then blinked a few times upon realizing that one had made it from brain to mouth intact.

Rachel grinned.

“Hark! Finally, they are done,” Mikey called out, approaching them. “Be they Human or Elf, the fairer sex takes far too long to get ready.”

Chloe held up a fist. “I’ll fairer sex you right in the jaw with a Barb Mega Punch, Elamon.”

“Just so we’re clear, actual violence is strictly prohibited,” Mikey said hurriedly. “Though, be it a duel you wish, I am happy to procure my dice--”

“God, no thanks.”

“Elamon, cease your petty squabbling with our fellow heroes.”

Whereas Mikey had improved his posture and taken on a more booming, commanding voice as Elamon, Steph slithered up to them, her voice quiet and sharp like a hissing snake. She wore robes similar to Mikey’s, but with duller browns and earthy colours to contrast with Elamon’s bold and striking deep blue. She had applied a good deal of makeup rather haphazardly, given her the appearance of someone who lived in a shrubbery. And her beanie, while still situated firmly atop her head, was now adorned with golden filigree.

“My name is Arithiel,” she announced. “And though I may be a necromancer, I pledge my services to you, O noble defenders of Avernon.” She dropped character long enough to wink and add, “if I can’t be a DM, I’m at least being a character with Mind Control spells.”

“A necromancer!?” Mikey gasped. “But that is a vile, evil school of magic--”

“Hurtful stereotypes,” Steph replied, resuming her hissing voice. “In truth I have a zest for life as strongly as any of you, I just have different tools in my tool box.” When Mikey huffed, she said, “would you rather have a paladin in your group? I hear Beryn Garth is available…”

“Eugh! Fine, you can join us!” Mikey conceded. “So we’ve got a War Mage, a Necromancer, a Barbarian, and a Thief. I guess I’ve seen worse parties.”

“I think you look badass, Steph,” Rachel said.

“...Damn,” Steph replied, clearly as taken aback as Chloe had been when she looked Rachel up and down. The phrase “bitch, step back” quickly materialized in Chloe’s mind, but she managed to keep her mouth shut.

Rachel grinned, but she quickly turned to look at Chloe. “All three of us look amazing, don’t we? We’re going to take this place by storm.”

“Take this place by storm? A storm is brewing, indeed. I wonder if you’ll be at the center of it.”

All four turned to the sound of the new voice. Mikey squinted his eyes, clutched his staff, and growled.

“Beryn Garth.”

If Chloe had been asked to describe a 35 year old LARPer, it would have been an incredibly fat man who had never gotten over his severe acne. Beryn Garth - or whatever his real name was - was a big man, certainly, but he wore his weight well, with a broad chest and huge shoulders. A massive red beard stretched down his face, heavily braded and adorned with jewelery. It took Chloe a moment to realize it wasn’t fake - he had clearly been styling it for a long time. Above his beard, his face was devoid of acne. In fact, it was almost devilishly handsome, and his dark eyes held a quiet intensity that he no doubt had practiced over many years of make believe villainy.

And then there was his armour. Not a bathrobe, not mismatched high school theater department costumes, but armour, slick and black and polished to a shine. Strapped to his back was a battle-axe as tall as he was, and while the blade was clearly made of foam, Chloe still imagined it wouldn’t feel great to get thwacked by it.

“Well, Elamon? Are you going to introduce me to your harem?” he asked, before letting out a booming laugh.

“They are not my harem!” Mikey shot back. “Elamon is - I mean, I am a monogamous man, and my only true love is my duty to my kingdom.”

Gay, Chloe thought, before adding, I’m allowed to say that, right?

“Then perhaps they’d like to join mine,” Beryn Garth replied. “Hmm, ladies? Everyone knows evil throws the best parties. Or you could stay with Elamon and be pawed over by a bunch of boys with barely a chin hair between them. Ha!”

“We’re sixteen, you fucking pedo,” Rachel snapped.

That shut him up. Beryn stopped laughing, and cleared his throat awkwardly. Then he turned back to Mikey.

“I’m afraid I’ll be missing the opening ceremony this year. I had a hand in writing the plot, so I’ve got something special to start setting up.” He smirked. “I’m sure I’ll be seeing you all soon.”

“Your reign of tyranny shan’t last forever, fiend!” Mikey called after him. “This year, Beryn Garth falls! And when my vengeance rains upon you--”

“He’s gone, dude,” Chloe pointed out.

“Damnations!” Mikey cursed. “I really hate that guy.”

“Yeah, I’m not a huge fan of him either,” Rachel said. “We’re gonna kick his ass, right?”

Mikey grinned, but quickly resumed his serious demeanor. “Come! To the opening ceremony!”

 

Chloe looked around at the group of 3 dozen nerds dressed in the most motley assortment of outfits she had ever seen.

There were huge warriors, bone-thin rogues, and wizards and witches of every shape and size. Well, mostly wizards. As Chloe looked around, she saw a lot of dudes and very few chicks.

The dudes appeared to be aware of this as well. She was starting to notice a lot of looks shooting in the direction of her and Rachel. She found herself surprisingly jealous of Steph and her figure-hiding robes. Rachel, of course, had no such body image or self confidence issues, and effortlessly strutted up into the crowd, Chloe clinging nervously to her tail.

“Hear ye, hear ye,” called out a man at a pedestal atop the stage in front of the crowd. Chloe looked at him, and corrected herself: not man, boy. This kid was younger than Mikey. Nonetheless, he had on the attire of a king, with sleeves that went well past his hands, and a crown that kept slipping down to his ears.

“King Tiberius!” Mikey said, swiftly taking a knee. Chloe looked around and saw just about everyone kneeling.

“THAT’S King Tiberius? He’s, like, 9!” Chloe said.

“They draw lots every year to see who gets to be King. Now, be quiet and kneel, disrespectful wench!”

“Don’t call me a wench!” Chloe snapped. “Or I’ll...hit you. With a wrench.”

Nevertheless, she bent the knee. Rachel kneeled next to her, giggling. “Nice comeback,” she said.

“Thanks,” Chloe responded with a grin. The Boy King Tiberius was droning on with his introductory speech, how great it was to see so many assembled heroes back together, Avernon thanks you all of your service, blah blah yadda yadda. Chloe was having a hard time staying invested, especially with Rachel giggling next to her. “I don’t actually have a wrench,” she said. “You didn’t bring any weapons, did you?”

“From the theater department?” she whispered back with an incredulous laugh. “Actually, I guess there are enough troubled teens at Blackwell that a few knives or guns wouldn’t be too hard to come by…”

“Okay, well, I meant, like, a toy sword, but good to know. I’m not sure even Beryn Garth has earned a cap in his ass quite yet.”

“Everyone else here seems to have some prop weaponry,” Rachel noted, looking around. “We could always…’acquire’ some once the fun starts.”

Chloe laughed. “What, steal them? Seriously?”

“Did you forget my class already, Barbara?” Rachel said with a wink. Then she took on a mock expression of stern authority, and said, “this is war! There are no rules in war except win!”

Several people around them angrily shushed while Chloe tried to stifle her giggling.

Rachel reached out and grabbed Chloe’s hand.

“I’m glad you came with me,” she said.

Chloe gave her hand a little squeeze.

“I’m glad you invited me,” she said. She wanted to say so much more. But it was around this time that gasps were going up all around them. People were starting to stand. Mikey was shouting.

King Tiberius was choking. It was a bit melodramatic, but overall not bad acting for the young kid. Several mages in attendance shouted spells towards the stage, but none seemed to have any effect.

With a final “BLEH!”, King Tiberius collapsed.

“Poison! The king has been poisoned!” someone was crying.

“Whoa,” Chloe said. “Does this usually happen?” She looked over to Steph, who was furiously shaking her head.

“SILENCE!” Mikey shouted, and his voice carried across the field, drawing the attention of every panicking LARPer there. “There is only one poison that could possibly have infected the royal blood of our beloved king,” he announced. “Poison of the Spider God, Aesar! This regicide was the work of Beryn Garth!”

More gasps rippled through the crowd.

“Hey, do you see that Druid from the bus?” Chloe asked, making her way over to Rachel. “It doesn’t look like he’s here.”

“Maybe he’s on Beryn’s team, and was in on this evil plot,” Rachel mused.

“A Druid, poisoning a king? Madness!” Mikey scoffed. He looked between them, as if doing some sort of mental calculation. “We’re going to have to split our forces!” he called out. “Scour the forest and find Beryn’s base of operations!”

Various nodding and sounds of agreement rippled throughout the crowd. Wow, Mikey is kind of a badass here, Chloe thought. It’s too bad he can’t bring Elamon to Blackwell and burn the bullies to a crisp with a well-placed fireball…

The other LARPers -- ahem, adventurers -- were splitting off into groups, mostly ‘adventuring parties’ that had arrived together and had appropriate class synergy. That left Chloe, Rachel, Steph, and Mikey.

“Arithiel and Quen, your talents for stealth and subterfuge will serve our forces well as lead scouts. You should head off with the main force. Barb!”

Chloe picked at a fingernail.

“Barb!”

Rachel gave Chloe a friendly punch in the arm.

“Ow! Huh? Oh, right. Barb reporting in!”

Mikey rolled his eyes. “I want you to come with me and watch my back.”

Chloe looked around at the others, taken aback. “You don’t want Steph to go with you?”

“You are the best melee DPS we have,” Mikey explained. Then he lowered his voice, momentarily dropping character, to add, “Beryn has played against Steph before. I want a wildcard, someone he won’t know how to predict or react to.”

“You are pretty good at being hard to predict,” Rachel said, with a knowing nod.

Chloe sighed. “Fine. I’ll be your melee...deep...whatever.”

“You’re pretty good at that, too,” Rachel went on. “I saw you eat a banana once? Woof.”

“Oh my God.”

“Are you two done?” Mikey asked, exasperated. “Beryn said he’s had a hand in writing the plot this weekend. Which means murdering our king was only the beginning. And each moment we hesitate gives him more time to pick us off and secure his victory!”

“Alright, alright, fine.” Chloe turned to look at Rachel. “So, uh...I’ll see you tonight, I guess?”

Rachel gave her a lopsided smile. “Try not to die, okay? That would really put a damper on my fun.”

Chloe smiled back. She just sort of...stood there, smiling at Rachel, who was smiling at her. Oh, Gods. What was happening right now.

“So, uh...see you tonight!”

“Yep. You...already said that.”

Chloe looked around. Nobody was paying any attention to them. Aw, fuck it.

She leaned in, and Rachel grinned and leaned in as well, and they shared a quick goodbye smooch. Nothing quite so dramatic as the one after the play a few nights ago, but it was nice.

When they broke apart, Chloe cleared her throat and said, “So, see you toni--”

“GOODBYE, CHLOE!”

Rachel laughed and slapped Chloe’s ass, pushing her off after Mikey, who was now waiting with increasing impatience.

“Ready?” Mikey asked. Chloe was beet red and grinning like a fool.

“Huh? Uh, yeah. Just point and I’ll...get to punching.”

Mikey sighed. “I guess I can’t fault you for wanting a final kiss with your loved one. After all, we may not all make it out of here alive tonight…”

Chloe blinked a few times. Well, shit, when he put it like that.

LARPing was fuckin’ intense, huh?

Without another look back, Elamon and Barb marched off to war.


	4. Gorey Murder

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading <3 <3 <3

After an intense, lust-filled kiss, Steph and Rachel finally broke apart.

Rachel ran a hand through Steph’s hair, gazing at her lovingly. “You’re sure you want to do this?”

“Yes,” Steph instantly replied. “Let’s get out of here. Screw this dumb game. I only invited you guys so I could be closer to you.”

“Mm, exactly why I accepted,” Rachel said, moving in for another kiss. “You’re such a better kisser than Chloe. She has no idea what she’s doing.”

“I’m better at a lot of things than Chloe,” Steph said, wagging her eyebrows.

“I bet,” Rachel said, her voice so sultry it was nearly a moan. “How are your educational prospects?”

“They’re great,” Steph replied, leaning in to kiss Rachel’s neck. She spoke in between kisses: “I’ve never been expelled, or even suspended. I get good grades, and will have lots of college opportunities.”

“Oh, God, that’s so hot,” Rachel gasped. “Tell me about your relationship with your father!”

“He’s alive and well, and I have no daddy issues whatsoever,” Steph said, slowly working her way down Rachel’s body. “Also, my best friend has never moved to Seattle and stopped talking to me, so I have no abandonment issues either.”

“Oh, yes! Oh, yes!” Rachel moaned.

“Barb?”

“Yes!”

“Barb!”

“YES!”

“BARB!”

“What?” Chloe asked, blinking rapidly.

Mikey was staring at her. “You’re supposed to be looking out for signs of the enemy! You were totally zonked out. What were you even thinking about?”

Chloe was silent for a moment.

“...Barbarian stuff?” she hazarded.

Mikey looked unconvinced, but didn’t press the issue. “Okay, well, just keep an eye out, alright? We have no idea how many henchmen Beryn Garth has. We could be walking straight into an ambush at any moment.”

“Fine, sorry,” Chloe said, looking around the forest they had been wandering through for what felt like hours. It was past noon, now. Chloe wondered when they were supposed to break for lunch. But she also had a host of other anxieties distracting her much more than her grumbling stomach.

“Hey...Elamon?”

“What is it, Barb?”

“Your friend, uh, Arithiel. She’s...she’s cool, right?”

Mikey gave her a long look, then hesitantly replied, “yes, I think so. I may have my qualms about her fighting style, but I believe her to be trustworthy.”

“It’s just...say you have kind of a thing going on with, uh, a young lass. But this lass is, like, way, WAY out of your league, and you’ve never actually articulated any sort of, uh, ground rules. So for all you know, you’re way more committed to this relationship than they are. Then say, on top of that, Ste-- uh, Arithiel expressed romantic interest in this lass, and even though she SAID she wouldn’t make a move without your consent, she’s now wandering around the woods alone with said lass, and said lass is so stunningly beautiful that it would be hard to blame Arithiel if she got caught up in the moment. And it would be my own fault...I mean, your own fault, for not making it crystal clear what I, uh, you wanted.”

Mikey stared at her.

“Uhh, you know what? Forget I said anything,” Chloe babbled.

“Steph is my best friend,” Mikey said, and it was clear that this was Mikey speaking, not Elamon. “For a lot of reasons, but one reason is that she’s loyal to her party. She would never, ever betray someone like that. And while I don’t know her very well, I don’t think Rachel would either. I’ve seen the way she looks at you. She doesn’t look at Steph or anyone else like that.”

Chloe felt like she wanted to cry. “Th-thanks, Mikey. I really...God, I’m a mess. I’ve just fucked up so many things in my life. I really, really don’t want to fuck up this thing with Rachel.”

“Then it seems to me like you should make your intentions clear when you see her again tonight. You’re great at flirting, apparently, but have you had a ‘serious’ talk about your relationship yet? You know...set those ground rules? Monogamy, commitment, that stuff?”

Chloe rubbed at her eyes. “Yeah, okay. You’re right. How are you so right?”

“These things are easier to see when you’re looking at...another character, from the outside. I guess I’ve gotten pretty good at solving problems so long as they aren’t my own.” He gave a nervous laugh. “Also, I’ve played a few dating sims. Please don’t tell anyone that.”

Chloe laughed, feeling much better. “You know, you’re gonna find a lady and make her really happy, Mikey. Or a dude! I dunno, I guess I shouldn’t assume people's preferences anymore.”

“Uh, lady will do,” Mikey said. “Though I guess that means I have to compete with Steph, Rachel, AND you now.”

“Heheh, don’t worry, I’m sure there are enough out there for all of-- did you hear that?”

They both stopped dead in their tracks, looking around nervously.

“Hear what?” Mikey hissed.

“I don’t know! But you said to be on the lookout and it kind of sounded like--”

“Like you just walked into a trap?”

Suddenly they were surrounded. Chloe’s first thought was: Christ I hope they weren’t all just listening to me blubber about my romantic insecurities.

“If you’re done blubbering about your romantic insecurities--”

Fuck.

“--I do believe our ambush grants us initiative, and sneak attack bonus damage.”

Beryn Garth stepped forward, the rest of the crowd fanning out behind him. Mikey looked around, confused.

“This is half of the scouting party I sent out earlier!” he said. “What are you all doing? He’s the bad guy! He poisoned our king!”

“Oh, poor Elamon,” Beryn Garth tsked, circling around them, drawing his battleaxe. “I did warn you I had a hand in writing this weekend’s plot. I’m not the villain here. You are.”

“Elamon is a hero, you melodramatic geezer!” Chloe snapped. Beryn Garth gave her an irritated look.

“Somebody cast silence on the Elf, please.”

“Nat 20! Successful cast!” someone called out from the crowd.

“What? Fuck you, shitbird--”

“Chloe, you were silenced,” Mikey hissed.

“But-- auuggh!” She turned to the one who had just ‘silenced’ her, and without making a sound, mouthed something at him so lewd that the poor kid immediately went pale.

“As I was saying,” Beryn Garth went on, “I appreciate your assumption that I would murder our beloved king, but the evidence says otherwise. The true murderer of King Tiberius was his most trusted advisor...you, Elamon.”

“No!” Mikey looked around at some of the friendly characters from before, a look of pleading and anguish on his face. “You can’t possibly believe I would do such a thing!”

“I’m sorry, Elamon,” someone called out.

“He had a really high speechcraft roll,” someone else elaborated.

“He must be using a charisma potion!” a third one added. “I can’t look away from his handsome radiance!”

“You won’t get away with this,” Mikey snapped.

Chloe saw him reach into his robes, and rub his ‘lucky’ necklace. She recalled what he had said...so long as he wore that, he had never lost a character…

“There is nothing to get away with!” Beryn replied. “I am merely enacting the justice our poor king, and Avernon itself, demands. Elamon, I hereby sentence you to death!”

“You’re welcome to try!” Mikey shot back. “Barb! Go for the spellcasters in back! Use your berserker rage to keep them from casting!”

“Uh, right! I mean, mmph mmph mmph!” Chloe answered, and then sort of...meandered over to the crowd. She held up her fists threateningly. “Uh, I know I’m silenced and all, but if any spellcasters could raise their hands so I know where I’m going, that’d be a huge help.”

A few wizards and warlocks obliged, and Chloe went over to start mock punching them.

“Curse your furious onslaught!” one of them cried out, which was oddly satisfying.

Meanwhile, sparks were flying in the duel between Elamon and Beryn Garth. Or at least Chloe assumed they were, since Mikey kept yelling, “flying sparks! Flying sparks!”

“Anti-magic shell!” Beryn Garth replied with a booming laugh.

“Nullify area!” Mikey fired back.

“So, uh…’sup?” asked a wizard that Chloe was half-heartedly punching towards.

“I’m gay,” she immediately responded.

The wizard looked dejected. “They always say that…”

“Blade rush!”

“Cloak of fire!”

“Hamstring!”

“Evasion!”

“Rend flesh!”

“Psychic blast!”

A ripple of gasps went through the crowd. Chloe turned to see what was suddenly so interesting.

Mikey was looking at his dice, horror on his face.

“A nat one,” someone muttered.

“Mikey? What does that mean? Mikey?” Chloe asked, though she was shushed back into silence.

“Overpower!” Beryn Garth said, and rolled his own dice…

“A 20!” someone called out.

“NO!” Mikey gasped. “No, no, please, no, don’t--!”

“Get down on the ground,” Beryn Garth commanded.

Mikey knelt at his feet, hands together, pleading hysterically. “No, you can’t do this, just...one reroll, please! Best out of three--”

“ON THE GROUND! NOW!”

Mikey, breathing in heavy, panicked gulps, lay down on his back. Beryn Garth raised his axe overhead, let out a rippling battle cry, and brought it down--

Onto the ground, next to him.

“That was me dramatically slicing him open,” Beryn Garth explained for the crowd. “Elamon, Wizard of the Third Circle, Advisor to King Tiberius, Defender of Avernon, Slayer of Duurgaron the Unscarred, has been killed!”

“Shit!” Chloe gasped.

Beryn Garth bent down over Mikey’s melodramatically splayed corpse, reached a hand down, and with a swift pluck, pulled off his lucky necklace.

“Hey! That’s--” Mikey started to protest.

“I’m sorry. Can corpses speak?” Beryn Garth asked. “I don’t believe corpses can speak.”

He pocketed the necklace.

“I have my trophy,” he called out. “Let the Elf go to tell her feeble resistance of what happened here today.”

“Fuck you! Give Mikey back his--” Chloe began.

Beryn Garth hefted his axe, and took a step towards her. “You have been silenced, Elf, and we have reminded you of this many times. We wouldn’t want you and your friends to get banned for breaking the rules, would we? Then you’d never have a chance to win back your friend’s bauble.”

Chloe was fuming, red faced with anger, wanted to tell Beryn Garth to fuck himself in a dozen different ways...but she looked over at Mikey, playing dead...then turned and stormed off, retreating alone into the woods.


	5. Tripping Balls

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thanks again to everyone who has left such nice comments. It really makes my day to read them!

Chloe was alone, like always.

She truly hadn’t wanted to be a loner, at first, but the universe clearly had other plans for her. She had repeatedly been shoved into the position of “weird girl with no friends” throughout her life. Slowly but surely she had come to accept it as inevitable.

Now she meandered through a forest, as the sun began to set and the sky lit up a bright orange, alone.

Man, fuck this. She should have just charged Beryn Garth and let him chop her head off or whatever. Then she could just go back to the camp and spend the rest of the weekend eating and napping.

And good God damn could she go for a blunt right about now.

She stopped when she heard some rustling and muttering in the woods nearby. With Elf-like grace (ha, ha) she crouched behind a tree. Whether these were friends or foes, she just really didn’t feel like dealing with anyone right now.

“Oh, hell yeah, that’s good stuff,” one was saying, in a slow, far-off tone of voice. “Thank God for that Druid.”

“Right?” another replied. “I don’t know where he gets his shit, but it’s as good as anything my dealer back home gets his hands on.”

Chloe perked up at that. Dealer? Good stuff?

Druid?

When she was confident that the other LARPers had retreated far enough away, she stood back up and made her way back out to the path they had been on. She looked towards the way they had come from, and began to set off.

This part of the woods was actually getting pretty dense with growth. Even though it was only early evening, it was getting dark and tough to see the path ahead. A few times she scraped her bare skin (of which she had entirely too much, in her opinion) against errant branches and twigs.

“Bunch of kids running around a forest at night,” she mumbled, “if I were a serial killer I would be so wet right now.” She stopped in her tracks, and added, “you say some weird fuckin’ things sometimes, Chloe Price…” before continuing.

There was light coming from up ahead. Flickering red light. Fire? Chloe’s first thought was: oh, great, Rachel is burning down another forest. But then she admitted that this light appeared too tame and self-contained. She worked her way towards it.

Suddenly the trees opened up, and she was in a much wider clearing. Ahead of her was an outcropping of rocks heavily decorated with runic symbols. Two candles flickered away in metal sconces on each side. Several makeshift carts were there, covered in various goods, that Chloe could only hope were of an illicit nature.

Standing in front of one of the carts, with his back turned towards her, was the Druid from the bus.

“Uh, hey,” she called out. “I’m...uh, Barb, the Elf Barbarian. I heard from...some friends that, uh, that you have some...supplies you could hook me up with?”

The Druid stopped what he was doing, but did not yet turn around. “Yeah, I sell ‘potions,’” he said. “But they ain’t cheap, and they ain’t for kids. You sure you know what you’re asking for?”

The Druid turned around, and stared at her.

“CHLOE!?”

Chloe stared back, mentally subtracted the beard and the hat and the robes, and…

“FRANK!?”

“What the hell are you doing here?” Frank snapped.

“Wh…” Chloe began, then narrowed her eyes. “What the hell am I doing here? What the hell are YOU doing here?”

Frank looked around nervously, then lowered his voice. “Look, I sell shit to weirdos and social outcasts, okay? Exactly the same as what I do anywhere else.”

“Right, okay,” Chloe said, slowly, “and the fake beard and pointy hat?”

Frank rolled his eyes. “It’s the only way they let me in. Look, these kids are freaky, and they by and large have rich parents. I’ve been coming every year and making a killing. And I guess I’ve got kind of a reputation here now.” Suddenly, Frank took a step closer to Chloe. “If you tell ANYONE that you saw me here--”

“Oh, yeah, I’m in a real fucking hurry to let everyone back home know I was at a LARP,” Chloe snapped. “Get real. Are you gonna sell me some drugs, or what?”

Frank laughed. “Yeah, okay, Skanky the Elf. Sell being the operative word here. You want anything, it’ll cost you some wizard dollars.”

Chloe thought for a moment. “What’s the conversion rate of wizard dollars to regular dollars?”

“One to one.”

“Yeah, that makes sense. Alright, uh, lemme see here…”

Chloe began to fish around in the one back pocket hidden under her leather skirt, and pulled out a handful of crumpled dollar bills.

“How much will this get me?”

Frank sighed, inspecting the incredibly mistreated bills, but finally nodded. “Alright. Hold on. I got something for you. Consider it a discount on the condition that you never speak of this meeting again.”

“Sweet,” Chloe responded.

Frank checked his supplies. There were various sections, with labels like “MANA POTIONS,” “NOURISHING SWEET ROLLS,” and “HEALING HERBS.” He seemed to find what he was looking for, and turned back to Chloe.

“Alright, this baby is gonna have a kick to it,” he said, handing her a brownie. “I’m serious, Price, get back to your tent before eating this, because you are going to trip some serious balls.”

Chloe immediately stuffed it in her mouth.

“I’m a barbarian, Frank,” she said, spraying crumbs everywhere. “They don’t let pussies become barbarians.”

Frank rolled his eyes. “If you get eaten by a wolf or fall into a ditch and die, I am taking no responsibility. I wash my hands of this. And again, for the record, if you tell ANYONE you saw me here, I will stab your fucking face off.”

“With, like, a LARP knife, or--”

“With a REAL FUCKING KNIFE.”

“Got it.”

 

It was even darker now, and Chloe wasn’t feeling any different yet. What she was feeling was a mighty need to pee.

“Just gotta get back to that porta potty I got changed in,” she muttered to herself, when a sudden realization struck her.

She was completely goddamn lost.

She spun around, looking in every direction. Empty forest, empty forest, empty forest, aaaand...empty forest. She had not been paying any attention whatsoever to her surroundings since they had split up after the opening ceremony. At first she just figured Mikey knew where they were, but then after that things had all happened so fast and she had been so pissed off, that she had just...started wandering.

“Okay, this is fine,” she said, making herself stop and take stock of the situation. “The sun rises in the east and sets in the west, right? So that direction is west, which means…I still don’t know what direction the entrance is in, so that’s totally fucking useless. Crap.”

She began to anxiously drum on her stomach with her hands.

“Helloooo?” she called out. “Anyone out there? Just a friendly Elf Barbarian here, looking for help getting back to camp!”

The wind picked up at that moment, making her shiver.

“Fuck it, I’m peeing,” she announced to the world at large. She found a secluded spot to squat down in, struggled out of her leggings, and took care of business. An anxiety-filled moment later (if anyone was going to stumble upon her, of course it would be the exact time she wanted privacy), she struggled her leggings back on, cursing at Rachel’s choice of attire for her, stood up--

The world shifted around her.

“Shit!” she gasped, leaning on a tree to catch her breath. “Guess I...stood up too fast…”

She took a moment to regain her composure, patted herself down to make sure all of her bits were properly covered (as much as they could be in this stupid get up), and took a few steps forward.

“Hello!” she called out again. “It’s me, Barb the Elf!”

“Who said that?” she asked, spinning around. Then she paused. “Oh, it was me. Right.”

“Where is everybody? Is anyone still alive?” she asked.

“They’re probably all partying at camp without you,” she answered. Why did her mouth taste like rainbows?

She heard, far away, someone call out, “stop right there! What is your allegiance?” She concentrated really hard and determined that it hadn’t been her that just said that.

“Hi!” she called back. “I’m with, uh...shit, uh…” she mumbled, stumbling forward. Fuck it, who cared? She was just happy to find anybody.

As she pushed her way through the writhing and pulsing forest, she saw four people in a field ahead, two groups of two squaring off against each other.

“We follow Elamon, and the true will of King Tiberius!” one snapped.

One of the others drew a blade. “Beryn Garth has decreed death to all traitors!”

He thrust forward and fucking impaled the other kid. Blood splattered everywhere. Chloe screamed, turned, and ran as fast as he could.

“Who was that?” asked the LARPer who had just thrust his foam sword under an opponent’s armpit.

“Shit! I spilled my powerade,” the victim lamented, looking at the red liquid dripping off of him.

“Oh, shit, oh, fuck,” Chloe gasped as she ran through the woods, stumbling and tripping every few feet. She was out of breath pretty quickly. “Why am I...in such terrible shape…”

As she bent over, taking wheezing gulps of breath and only stopping to curse randomly, she noticed something a few feet ahead...something laying in the underbrush…

She slowly edged towards it, squinting through the darkness to see what it was…

It looked like...a fucking body.

“Hey,” it said. “Is the Act over for the night?”

If Chloe hadn’t peed earlier, she would have just then. With another scream, she tore off in a new direction.

“...Hello?” the corpse asked. “Can I get up now?”

Everyone was after her. They were all out to get her. This whole fucking place was a trap. It wasn’t a game, it was a cult. They were probably having a huge orgy in a pool of blood right now. Well, there would be no orgies in HER blood, no fucking way.

Rachel!

The thought popped into her head without warning or explanation.

I have to find Rachel!

“Rachel!” she screamed, her voice going hoarse from all the running and shouting. The trees were closing in, trying to suffocate her. Shit, they were in on it too-

Everything stopped. She looked around. The trees were gone; she was in a nice, peaceful grove. The air was perfectly still. There wasn’t a sound in the night sky, not even a cricket.

Chloe continued to breathe deeply, trying to compose herself.

Shadows started to move around her.

“Fuuuuck,” she snapped, holding her fists up in front of her. “Stay back, I swear to Christ…”

“Beryn! It’s the Elf from before!”

“Well, well. So it is. I see she didn’t take our offer of mercy to heart, earlier.”

Rising like a demon from an abyssal plane, Beryn Garth rose before her, eclipsing all light behind him. His axe was in his hands. He’s going to kill me, Chloe realized. I’m going to die.

“She, uh, she looks really jumpy,” someone pointed out. “Is she okay?”

“She’s fine!” Beryn Garth snapped. “Don’t let her fool you. She’s obviously been trailing us all night, hoping to find this sacred grotto. The location of the Well of Souls must remain hidden. Whoever failed their tracking roll when they should have caught her will be punished.”

“Should we attack?” someone else asked. “She’s not even armed. We can kill her, no problem.”

“Not yet,” Beryn Garth replied. “Let’s have...a bit of fun first.” He waved a hand in front of her face, and called out in his booming baritone, “hypnosis!”

“Get the fuck away from me…” Chloe mumbled, but now the ground was jumping up and trying to kick her off her feet. Shit, was this all that thing Frank gave her? Maybe he was right, maybe she shouldn’t have, uh...downed it all in one gulp.

She heard Frank’s voice echo in her head: “you are going to trip some serious balls.”

Oh, fuck, Chloe realized. This has happened before. I’m having a seriously bad trip.

“You aren’t here,” Beryn Garth was whispering from somewhere ahead. She tried to focus, but could hardly see him. “You are a child again. You’re home.”

“There you guys are!”

Her father opened the door to the garage. Chloe had been in there with Max, decked out in their pirate hats and eyepatches, looking for treasure.

“The map, dad! The map led us here!” Chloe said, excitedly.

“Just be careful, okay? I keep some tools in here that are decidedly not treasure.”

“We will!” Chloe snapped, getting annoyed. She wanted to play with Max. Getting chided by dad was decidedly un-pirate like…

“A tragedy befell you, didn’t it? Everyone’s character backstory has tragedy…”

Beryn Garth’s voice pierced through the heavens, reverberated through the garage. Chloe looked around, and suddenly she was alone.

“Max?” she called out. “Max, where did you…”

“The tragedy was your fault, wasn’t it?”

Some of Beryn Garth’s men were lighting a campfire. It was a sudden explosion of light so bright that Chloe was dazed, nearly blinded, but she couldn’t look away.

Her father was in there, burning, dying.

“It wasn’t my fault!” she shouted back.

“You could have stopped it.”

“IT WASN’T MY FAULT!” Chloe screamed, going hoarse, tears streaming down her face.

“Wow, she’s a really good actor,” one of the other LARPers whispered to reverent murmurs of agreement.

“Very dedicated to the character,” another said, having procured popcorn from somewhere and settling in to enjoy the show.

“Because of your mistakes, they all left you. That’s why you’re alone now. You’re here, all alone, without an ally in the world, and it’s all your fault.”

“FUCK YOU!” Chloe yelled. “They didn’t leave me! They…”

She looked into the fire. Her father was standing in front of it, watching her. He reached out a hand to Max, who was suddenly standing next to him, and rested it on her shoulder. Max reached out a hand of her own, and grabbed Rachel’s hand as she materialized there as well.

The three of them turned away from her, and stepped into the fire.

“No!” Chloe shouted. “Don’t go! Don’t leave me! Please don’t leave me!”

She lunged forward after them, but something caught her foot and twisted her ankle. She stumbled to the ground, and landed on something rough. A rock scraped against her cheek, and when she brought her hand up, it felt wet with blood.

“Shit!” Beryn was suddenly saying. “I didn’t touch her! You all saw that, right? I didn’t lay a finger on her!”

The fire was quickly doused. Everyone was moving.

"Wait!” Chloe cried out. “Don’t go! Please don’t go!”

“Just leave her here! Go! Go!”

“Please don’t leave me alone!” Chloe cried. “Max! Rachel! Help!”

She was alone.

Always and forever, she was alone.


	6. No Rest for the Wicked

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hello! Thank you so much for continuing to read and leave such nice comments on my story about teenagers doing drugs and smooching each other, and also for not calling the police on me. <3

As soon as she saw her, Rachel Amber shot upright and rushed over.

“Chloe!” she yelled. “Thank God! Where have you been? I was seriously about to call the police--” she began, then stopped and gasped.

Chloe’s eyes were downcast, staring at her feet. Her right cheek had a light gash upon it, dried blood caked down her face. Her arms were wrapped around herself, and she was shivering, teeth chattering.

“What happened?” Rachel asked, lowering her voice as she drew closer. “Chloe…”

Others were looking at her now. Steph and a dozen or so other LARPers were sitting around a large campfire, all turned to give Chloe their full attention.

Chloe felt herself wilt under their gazes.

“I, uh...I think I want to go home,” Chloe whispered, so that only Rachel could hear her.

Rachel wrapped her arms around her, ran a hand through Chloe’s hair. “Chloe,” she whispered again. “Did someone hurt you? Did someone try to…” Rachel seemed to be having difficulty articulating such a horrible thought. They pulled apart just enough to look into each other’s eyes.

“I swear to God, Chloe,” she went on, “if one of these fat virgins laid a finger on you, I will burn this fucking forest to the ground.”

Chloe couldn’t help but chuckle, but she stopped when she saw the intensity in Rachel’s eyes. She meant it.

“Nobody touched me,” Chloe said. “I fell down and landed on a rock, is all. But I...I think I had a panic attack, or something.” She reached a hand up to her forehead. “I’m sorry, I’m just...I’m such a mess. I don’t know if I should still be here…”

“Then we’ll leave first thing in the morning,” Rachel said, pulling her in close again. Chloe buried her face into Rachel’s shoulder, felt her hair fall over her face and hide her from the world.

Chloe mumbled something unintelligible.

“What?” Rachel asked.

“I’m sorry,” Chloe said. “I know you wanted to be here this weekend--”

“No,” Rachel said, cutting her off. “I wanted to be with YOU this weekend. I don’t care what we do or where we do it. I just want you to be there with me.”

Still holding her tight, Rachel began to walk her over to a tent that she had set up. Chloe saw both of their bags inside, and one large sleeping roll. She suddenly realized with a great deal of apprehension that Rachel hadn’t been kidding about intending for them to sleep together this weekend.

They sat down together, leaning against a pillow, Rachel keeping her arms wrapped around Chloe. Chloe rested her head against Rachel’s breast.

“I’m a piece of shit,” Chloe said.

“Shut up!” Rachel snapped. “Why would you say something like that?”

Chloe took a deep breath, then answered, “you’ve been nothing but wonderful to me, non-stop. Every moment with you has been amazing. But I just keep convincing myself it’s some kind of...prank, or bad misunderstanding. That you’re going to realize that...well, that you’re Rachel Amber, and I’m Chloe Price. And then you’re going to leave.”

Rachel was quiet for a moment, petting Chloe’s hair. Finally, she said, “I know that I’m Rachel Amber, and that you’re Chloe Price. And I like that. I’m not stupid, Chloe. I know that there are a dozen guys and girls at Blackwell alone who would happily be with me. I didn’t want to be with any of them. I wanted to be with you.”

Chloe squeezed Rachel’s waist. She never wanted to let go.

“I’m not going to leave you,” Rachel said, leaning down and kissing her on the forehead. “Never.”

They lay there for a while in each other's arms. Chloe felt herself growing calmer, more relaxed, feeling safer, just from listening to Rachel’s breathing and her heartbeat.

A shadow fell across the entrance to their tent. “Knock, knock?” came a hesitant voice. It was Steph.

Rachel said nothing, and looked down at Chloe. It took Chloe a moment to realize that Rachel was letting her decide whether to let Steph in or not.

“Come in,” Chloe called out, straightening up and separating from Rachel a bit.

Steph came in and sat down cross-legged across from them. “Is everything okay?” she asked, focusing on Chloe. “Mikey came back a couple of hours ago, alone. He went straight into his tent and hasn’t said a word. Then you show up...looking like you got the shit kicked out of you, no offense.”

“I fell on a rock,” Chloe said, rubbing her cheek. It stung like hell. “Does it really look like I got the shit kicked out of me, though? Maybe that’s what I should tell people. Definitely cooler than ‘I forgot how to walk.’”

Steph laughed ever so lightly, but Chloe noticed she still looked distraught. “Mikey died,” she explained. “Elamon, I mean. Obviously.”

“Shit,” Steph cursed. “That explains it. How did it happen? He’s always been so careful.”

Chloe kept her eyes pointed low, not making eye contact. “It was that Beryn Garth douchebag. He clearly planned this all from the start just to kill Mikey. Such a big man, going after a 14 year old like that.”

“Steph, Chloe and I were...thinking of leaving tomorrow,” Rachel said. “I’m sorry, but…”

Steph let out a resigned sigh. “Okay. It’s fine. Maybe we all should. Mikey is going to be too despondent to do anything. And Beryn Garth probably wants us to stay so he can gloat about his victory, the smug prick.”

The smug prick…

The smug prick…

The words echoed in Chloe’s ears as she stared at her shoes, and all she could see was Beryn Garth, bending over Mikey and grabbing the necklace his father had given him. His lucky necklace. It hadn’t been so lucky in the end, but it was still his. And Beryn Garth had taken it because he felt like he could, and that no one would stop him.

What am I doing? She asked herself. Sulking? Crying? This is bullshit!

I’m Chloe Price. I don’t get sad. I get angry.

“You know, we don’t have to go back to Arcadia Bay,” Rachel was saying. “We could just take the bus somewhere else, hang out at a motel, just for the rest of the weekend--”

“No,” Chloe blurted out. “We’re staying. I need to talk to Mikey.”

She was up and out of the tent so fast that Rachel and Steph sat there for a moment in stunned silence before realizing what had happened, at which point they shot up and after her.

Her foot still hurt a bit from twisting her ankle when she fell, but Chloe ignored it. She also ignored the curious stares of the remaining LARPers that were still loyal to Avernon.

“Mikey!” she snapped, approaching his tent. Without any further warning, she thrust open the tent flap and looked inside. Mikey was laying on his side, eyes wide open and staring straight ahead. He did not move at all.

“C’mon, Mikey,” Chloe continued, as Steph and Rachel caught up with her. “Elamon is dead. But you’re not! We have to make things right.”

“I don’t care,” Mikey responded, his voice barely audible.

Chloe let herself in and sat down next to him. “You helped me out earlier,” she said. “When I was nervous about...certain things.” She looked up at Rachel, who was watching her, as if she understood. “Now I’m going to help you. We’re going to beat Beryn Garth and get your necklace back. But we can’t do it alone.”

Mikey sat up, slightly. His curiosity was piqued, though his depression was still fighting hard against it. “I’m dead. I can’t do anything. He won my necklace as a trophy of war, far and square.”

“That’s bullshit and you know it,” Chloe snapped. “He won a battle. But this war isn’t over. So get up! We NEED you.”

Mikey slowly sat upright, pulling his blanket off of himself. “I only brought one character sheet,” he said. “And he died. I don’t know what else I can do.”

“You know this campaign better than any of us. Even better than me,” Steph said, kneeling down to place a hand on Mikey’s shoulder. “If anyone knows the secret to turning this all around, it’s you.”

Mikey sat there in silence for a moment, staring straight ahead, his gaze intense as if he could vividly see something the others couldn’t.

“The Well of Souls,” he suddenly blurted out.

“The Well of What?” Rachel asked.

“The What of Souls?” Chloe asked.

 

“The Well of Souls!” Mikey said again, slamming the campaign guidebook onto the picnic table outside. Several people had helpfully taken their phones out to shine onto the book, eagerly crowding around to see what was going on.

“We’ve NEVER found the Well of Souls before, Mikey,” Steph said. “It probably doesn’t even really exist, it’s just background flavour to make the world feel more alive.”

“That’s dumb,” someone said, while absent-mindedly playing Hawt Dawg Man on their phone.

“It exists,” Mikey asserted. “They change the location every year, and mark it so subtly that you’d hardly even know you were there. But if you can figure out where it is...it’s basically a MacGuffin. We could turn this whole campaign around.”

“So what does it...actually do?” Rachel asked.

“It’s basically a supercharged battery. Anyone who uses it can cast an Omega version of one of their prepared abilities,” Steph explained. “Which...means...oh my God!”

“A necromancer could fully revive Elamon, not as a zombie, but as his regular self,” Mikey said, his eyes lighting up. “Steph, you beautiful corpse-raising genius!”

“Awesome! I’m excited that you’re excited,” Rachel went on, “but this is all moot if we can’t find it, right? How are we supposed to locate it?”

“Uhh,” Chloe said.

“She has a point,” Steph conceded. “Only the people who worked on the campaign know the clues for how to locate it…”

“...And Beryn Garth helped write this campaign,” Mikey finished. “Damn! He’ll have made it easy for himself to find, and impossible for the rest of us. He wanted Elamon to die and stay dead.”

“Uhhhh,” Chloe said.

“We could always just find him and torture him until he tells us where it is,” Rachel mused. A few people gave her apprehensive stares, which prompted her to add, “our characters could LARP torture his character, I mean. Obviously.”

“Uhhhhhh,” Chloe said.

“He already got what he wanted. He’s killed Tiberius and Elamon, and scattered the forces of Avernon. He might just hide for the rest of the weekend and win by default,” Mikey said.

“Uhhhhhhhh,” Chloe said.

“What is it, babe?” Rachel asked, looking over at her.

“I know where the Well of Souls is,” Chloe answered.

Everyone turned to stare at her.

“Kind of,” she added. “I was...uh, hypnotized by Beryn Garth? And also...on drugs…?”

“You brought drugs?” Steph asked, sounding more amused than upset.

“No, I, uh...found...them,” Chloe said slowly. Everyone was still staring at her. “Not, like, on the ground. I mean a guy was selling them.”

“A guy,” Rachel stated rather flatly.

“Yeah,” Chloe said, remembering Frank’s rather pointed promise to stab her face off if she told anyone about him. “A guy.” More silent stares. “Okay, look, I don’t have a problem, I was just feeling anxious and wanted to take the edge off--”

“So the key to victory is locked inside Chloe’s head, and she can’t remember because she was on dope!” Mikey exclaimed, his look of hope quickly deflating.

“First of all, nobody says ‘on dope,’” Chloe interjected, “and second of all, I can mostly remember, just...a little bit not.”

“Well, it was a good game, everyone,” Mikey said with a sigh, closing the campaign guidebook.

“Now wait just a second!” came a voice from above. Rachel had taken it upon herself to stand on top of the table to address everyone. Chloe watched her with a grin. “The plan hasn’t failed,” she said to the forces of Avernon. “It just needs to be adjusted. Get up here, Barb!”

Chloe blushed, but hopped up onto the table. Rachel grabbed her hand and raised it over their heads.

“Barb can lead us to the Well of Souls,” Rachel said. “We just have to help her retrace her steps to get there. I, Quen the Raven, fully intend to not leave Barb’s side until she has led us to victory. Any of you who claim to care about King Tiberius and avenging his death owe it to him to do your part!”

“Arithiel will add her cunning to your cause,” Steph shouted.

A ragged cheer of approval went up. Other LARPers were speaking up now.

“For Avernon!”

“For King Tiberius!”

“For Elamon!”  
“Kiss!” one boy shouted at Chloe and Rachel, but was quickly shushed by his peers.

“I’m not positive I can do this,” Chloe whispered to Rachel.

Rachel winked. “I am. You’re Barb the freakin’ Barbarian. You can do anything.”

Somehow, when Rachel said it, Chloe believed it.

 

Chloe had no idea how late it had gotten. She scarfed down some leftover food (apparently she had missed dinner while crying in a field, whoops) while everyone else wandered into their tents to rest up in preparation for Act 2 of the campaign.

Chloe laid her head down on the pillow in her tent, and closed her eyes. So. Tired.

“Hey.”

Chloe opened her eyes. Rachel was standing over her, closing the tent flap and zipping it up tight.

“Hey,” Chloe said, scooching over to make room for her.

Rachel laid down as well, snuggling in close. Chloe wondered if her heart would ever stop fluttering at moments like this.

“You’re sure you’re okay?” Rachel asked. “My offer still stands for us to get out of here. We’ll take the bus, go to a shady motel, lounge by a gross pool full of dead leaves…”

“Wow, that sounds like a dream come true,” Chloe replied sarcastically.

“I just don’t want you to have another panic attack again,” Rachel said, resting her hand on Chloe’s leg. “Or feel like you need to get baked to deal with the anxiety of dating me.”

Chloe rolled onto her side to look at her. “I’m sorry,” she said. “These insecurities are my own fault. I’m working on them. You just...please keep being wonderful you.”

Rachel’s eyes lit up, and she leaned in. She kissed Chloe so hard that Chloe was rolled over onto her back again. Suddenly Rachel was on top of her, kissing her furiously, running her hands through her hair. Chloe could hardly keep up. Her hands flailed in the air.

“Wait,” she gasped when Rachel broke apart from her for a brief moment.

“Yeah?” Rachel asked, still leaned in close to her face.

Is this real? I’ve had sex before, but I’ve never felt this way. Am I to you what Elliot was to me?

Do you really feel the way about me that I do about you?

I think I love you. Is that crazy?

“Nothing,” she said. She sat up slightly to meet Rachel’s lips, grabbed the back of her head, and pulled her down into the covers with her.


	7. Breakfast of Champions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As always, I dedicate this 'chapter summary' box to thanking everyone for continuing to read and enjoy and comment and kudos this silly dang fic. I mean, 100 kudos? Hot dang! LOVE YOU SEE YOU NEXT TIME

“I am going to slaughter you,” Chloe said.

Her knife cut through several layers, as liquid gushed from the wound. Hacking and sawing, she tore away at her opponent. Rip, tear.

Chomp.

“Damn, Chloe,” Steph said, sitting across from her. “That’s, like, 6 pancakes.”

“I’m a growing girl,” Chloe said, her mouth full. She continued to liberally pour syrup all over everything. She had gone through nearly half a bottle herself already.

“I guess you would be hungry,” Steph said. There was something insufferably coy about the way she said that, and the way she was looking at Chloe right now. Chloe slowly lowered her fork, watching her. “You had quite the workout last night…”

No. Oh, shit, no.

Chloe looked around. Everyone else in camp enjoying the complimentary breakfast had been watching her, but quickly looked away when they noticed her looking back. There was a lot of innocent whistling going on.

“Oh, God,” Chloe gasped.

“Yep, that’s what you kept saying,” Steph said with a smirk. “It was just ‘oh, God, oh, God,’ over and over again.”

“Please kill me,” Chloe said. “Do you think I could slit my jugular with this plastic knife?”

“‘Sup, bitches,” Rachel said, scooting over next to Chloe with a plate of breakfast of her own.

Chloe turned bright red, and pulled her shirt up over her head in order to hide.

“It’s not so bad, Chloe!” Steph was saying. “You could be the weird gay girl who DIDN’T get laid last night.”

“Not helping!” Chloe hissed.

“Aw, c’mon out, Chloe,” Rachel said, putting an arm around her. “Of your shirt, I mean, not the closet, since clearly--”

“I hate both of you, and myself, and being alive,” Chloe said, popping her head back out.

“For what it’s worth, nobody here is going to be an ass about it,” Steph said. “The overlap between LARPers and the devoutly religious is pretty small.”

“I’m not worried about excommunication,” Chloe replied. “I’m worried about a bunch of horny dudes jerking off outside my tent because of the fetishization of gay women.”

“There’s an easy solution to that,” Rachel said, speaking loudly enough for several people around them to hear. “Anyone tries that, I rip their dick off.”

“Thanks, dear,” Chloe mumbled. Rachel grinned at her.

“God, I slept like a baby last night!” Mikey said, finally joining them. He slid in next to Steph. “I feel great. You really pulled me out of my funk, Chloe. Thank you.”

“Hey, glad to hear it,” Chloe said. She meant it. As much of a weirdo dweeb as Mikey was, he was a good kid. Chloe wanted to do right by him. She just hoped she could pull this all off…

“So you slept through all last night? Nothing woke you up?” Steph asked.

“No,” Mikey answered. “Why?”

“Well, you missed Chloe-- eep!” Steph said, as a pancake hit her in the face.

“So, do we need to go over the plan again?” Rachel asked, after the commotion had calmed down.

“No, nobody needs to go over the plan again,” Chloe said. “You just want an excuse to stand up on the table and give another rousing speech.”

“I can’t help it that I’m naturally rousing,” Rachel replied, with haughty indignation. “Rousing, Chloe, not--”

“I heard you!”

“You should all get changed, then,” Mikey said. “Daylight’s burning! Don’t worry, I’ll, uh, hold down the fort here.”

Steph gave Mikey a comforting pat on the back. “Hold tight, Mikey. We’ll have you alive and back in the fight in no time. C’mon, girls, let’s move out.”

“Wait!” Rachel said. “We can’t just get into costume. We need some badass music to play while we get ready. Steph, can you bring something up?”

“Oh, sure,” Steph said with a laugh, scrolling through her phone.

“Pick something really gangster,” Rachel said. “From the current year, which is 2010.”

“Uh, I know what year it is. Alright, here we go.”

 

_Wake up in the morning feeling like P Diddy_

Rachel pulled up her black tights, and tied them on with a matching leather belt.

_Grab my glasses, I’m out the door, I’m gonna hit this city_

Steph pulled her robes up over her shoulders.

_Before I leave, brush my teeth with a bottle of jack_

Chloe hopped on one foot as she tried to get back into her leggings, before toppling over and landing face-first in the grass.

_‘Cause when I leave for the night, I ain’t coming back_

Rachel pulled on two sleek black fingerless gloves, flexing her hands as she did so.

_I’m talking pedicure on our toes, toes, trying on all our clothes, clothes_

Steph gently lowered her augmented beanie down onto her head, brushing a few strands of hair out of the way.

_Boys blowing up our phones, phones, drop-topping, playing our favorite CDs_

Chloe squeezed her barbarian vest on, then spent a moment tucking her boobs away as best as she could. Goddamn gender disparity for fantasy armour styles.

_Rollin’ up to the parties, tryin’ to get a little bit tipsy_

The three of them, side by side and decked out in full attire, walked in slow-motion through the camp, faces set with looks of fierce and badass determination. Steph pulled out some sunglasses and slid them on. Rachel pulled out a cigarette to light up. And Chloe raised her fist in front of them.

“Ladies? Let’s fuck shit up.”

 

“Alright, so according to Mikey’s map, we were around here when we were ambushed,” Chloe said, consulting the incredibly detailed sketch Mikey had drawn up for them.

“So what happened then?” Rachel asked.

“Beryn told me to run, and I did,” Chloe said. “I went, uh...that way, I think?”

“You think,” Steph said. “That’s a good start.”

Chloe spun around, taking stock of their surroundings. She nodded. “Yeah, I’m positive. It was this way. Come on.”

Steph shot a skeptical look at Rachel, who merely smiled and shrugged her shoulders.

“Hey, uh, Steph,” Chloe asked, walking a few feet ahead of them. “Do you know anything about that Druid? The one from the bus ride?”

“Huh? Uh, not really,” Steph answered. “I think his name is Beanzebub or something.”

Chloe stopped in her tracks. “His name is B-- no, of course his name is Beanzebub,” she said.

“What?”

“Nothing!” Chloe hurriedly said. “Just...small talk for the road, is all!”

“Heeey...he’s the guy, isn’t he?” Rachel asked. “The guy who sold you drugs!”

“Whaaaaat,” Chloe said, instantly demonstrating why she wasn’t in the drama club. “That’s, that’s, that’s crazy talk.”

“Oh, shit,” Steph said with a laugh. “I always thought there was something sketchy about him.”

“So we find the Druid with the funky herbs, and we’re one step closer to the Well of Souls,” Rachel said. “Right?”

Chloe bit her lower lip. Frank may currently be dressed like a weirdo, but he was still a pretty hardcore drug dealer. She wasn’t sure how comfortable she was with the idea of sending Rachel off to meet him, especially given his rather pointed threat not to reveal his presence to anyone.

“It’s...it’s complicated, okay?” she said. “Let’s just take this one step at a time.”

“I think I hear someone!”

“Shit, get down!” Steph hissed. The three of them ran off the path and slid down into a ravine, clinging to the side and keeping their heads down. All three remained silent, listening intently for signs of the intruders.

“Are you sure? Are any enemies even left alive?” came another voice, growing closer. “I kinda wish we hadn’t killed so many yesterday. Just wandering around looking for leftovers is boring…”

The footfalls were nearly on top of them. Chloe was turned to face Rachel, who leaned into her.

“You trust me, right?” Rachel hissed.

“Wh-” Chloe began, but Rachel put a finger over her mouth.

“Everything I do, I do for you,” she said. “Remember it!”

With an impressively agile vault, she leapt up and over onto the path again, facing the two guards, both gangly young men in armour that was slightly too big for them.

“Sorry, boys,” she said, turning slightly and spanking her ass at them. “You’re gonna have to work to catch a piece of this!”

“S-stop! Wait!” one called out.

“I think I’m in love,” the other said.

“Shut up! Don’t let her get away!”

They tore off after her. After waiting a moment to make sure it was safe, Chloe and Steph climbed out of the hole, with considerably less impressive agility.

Chloe laughed. “Did you hear that?” she asked. “She was worried about me not trusting her. Like I really think she’s going to seduce a couple of awkward as fuck teen boys.”

Steph turned to look at her, then quickly shot her gaze upwards. “Uh, Chloe, you, uh, popped out, a little bit.”

“What?” Chloe looked down at herself, and swore furiously, readjusting her vest. “Sorry…”

“Oh, don’t apologize to me,” Steph said, with a smirk. Chloe felt herself blush in the way only Rachel was usually able to make her.

They resumed walking, Chloe leading the way. “Uhm. Look, I am sorry. Not for my tit, but for...Rachel. I know you had a thing for her, and...you’ve just been super cool about all this. I guess it was kind of inconsiderate of me to have loud gay sex with her at an event you invited us to…”

Steph laughed. “Chloe, I told her to. I mean, she obviously wanted to herself, but was nervous about how you’d react. I told her you were so stupidly in love that you’d be pudding in her hands.” Steph grinned. “Sorry, hope I didn’t cross any lines or anything. I am happy for you guys, really.”

Chloe blushed again, even moreso than during her accidental exhibitionism. “Well...I...thanks. I don’t know how I would have ever, uh, initiated. Gay sex. I still kind of can’t believe I had gay sex. Really GOOD gay sex.”

“You know, we just call it ‘sex’, you don’t have to say ‘gay sex’ every time.”

“Sorry.”

“It’s fine. You’ll learn. So, I know you were being coy, but are we looking for this druid dude or what?”

Chloe sighed. “Look, can you keep a secret from Rachel? So long as it isn’t about my obvious love and inevitable turning to pudding?”

“Yeah,” Steph said, getting serious. “What’s up?”

“The druid drug dealer is my usual drug dealer. Just in druid clothes.”

“So?” Steph asked.

“So I want to keep the shitty, fucked up parts of my life as separated from the good parts as possible, okay?” Chloe snapped. “Which basically just means keeping Rachel isolated from literally every other part of my life. As much as I can, anyway…”

“That’s kinda fucked up,” Steph said.

“Excuse me?”

Steph rolled her eyes. “All you two do is talk about each other, but you don’t GET each other, do you? Rachel isn’t just using you as some sex toy, dude. She wants to be part of your life. Being partners is exactly that: PARTNERS. Through the good stuff AND the shitty stuff. Otherwise they’d be...I don’t know, sidekicks?”

“Shit,” Chloe said.

“Yeah, exactly.”

“No, I mean, shit, we’re here!” Chloe hissed.

They were at the rock formation where Frank had set up his home and his merchandise. Beanzebub was sitting in a folding chair, his head resting on his chest, cushioned by his big fluffy fake beard.

“Okay, we’re on the right track,” Chloe whispered. “Now we just have to turn around and head back. Next stop: The Well of Souls.”

“You don’t want to grab some ‘goodies’ while we’re here?” Steph asked, tilting her head towards the currently unwatched drug stash.

“No!” Chloe hissed. “...Why, do you?”

“No!” Steph responded. “I just, uh, thought maybe you would want to.”

There was a tense moment of silence.

“Okay, just a little.”

“A few things won’t hurt.”

“Won’t even know it’s gone.”

“Not even a big deal.”

Steph and Chloe tiptoed their way over to the merchandise. While Chloe was in no hurry to try another whatever the fuck she had tried last night, some nice and simple weed would really hit the spot…

A sound rumbled out from within the depths of the fake beard.

“Chloe. Fuckin’. Price.”

“Uhh,” Chloe said, freezing in her tracks. “Hey Frank! Just thought I’d stop by, see how you’re doing. Enjoying the campaign?”

Frank lifted his head and fixed her with an icy gaze. “I thought I told you not to tell anyone I was here,” he stated. “Who the fucking fuck is this?”

“Hello, sir,” Steph said, with a polite bow. “May I just say, I greatly admire the entrepreneurial spirit of the small business owner like yourself--”

“SHUT THE FUCK UP.”

“Yes, sir.”

Frank stood up, and moved in closer to Chloe. “I thought I had asked really nicely to leave me alone,” he snarled. “That means now I have to ask not so nicely. Aren’t things so much better when I get to be a nice guy, Chloe?”

Chloe stood her ground, staring him down. “Okay, yes, I’m a piece of shit. Chop me into little pieces or whatever, fine. But leave Steph out of this, okay? She’s only here because of me.”

“Okay, that’s fair. Bye!” Frank said, waving with sarcastic cheeriness at Steph.

She stood her ground as well, staying next to Chloe’s side.

“No way,” she said. “We’re both leaving. Come on, Chloe.”

“I don’t fucking think so!” Frank snapped, grabbing Chloe’s arm and pulling her away from Steph.

“Hey! Get your fucking hands off of me--”

“I gave you a discount on my goods last night on the condition that you not tell anyone I was here. You failed that condition, which means I’m now owed more money, with interest,” Frank said. “So one of you is paying the fuck up, right now!”

“I just told Steph, and she’s cool, I swear!” Chloe argued, struggling to free herself. “Nobody else knows you’re here! I promise!”

“EVERYBODY FREEZE!”

There was a great rustling all around them, and about 20 people poured into the clearing at once, all with weapons drawn and pointed at them.

“Of fucking course,” Frank said with a sigh.

“Let go of the girl.”

Beryn Garth strode through the center of the crowd, and came to stand before them. He looked Chloe up and down. “I see you cut your cheek. I’m sure you know that falling and injuring oneself is a risk during a LARP, and the organizers are in no way liable for the damages you cause to yourself.”

“Suck my dick,” Chloe snapped at him.

“Yeah, and mine too, while you’re down there,” Frank added. “What the hell is this about? What are all you people doing here? Why does nobody respect that literally my only wish is to be left alone!?”

“I am sorry, Druid, but your decision to aid these traitors makes you suspect as well. I am taking all three of you back to our base,” Beryn explained. Frank laughed.

“Listen, Frodo, I’m not playing your little game anymore, okay? I’m out. Fuck this shit--” he began, when two of Beryn’s men came up behind him, grabbed his arms, and handcuffed him. “Hey, what the fuck!? Are you insane!?”

“We passed our grapple check, sir,” one of the goons explained. “Should we bind the other two?”

“I don’t know,” Beryn asked, looking to Chloe and Steph. “Should we?”

“...No,” Chloe said, and Steph shook her head in agreement. “We surrender.”

“But how did you track us here?” Steph asked. “We figured you’d just be hiding all weekend, to help secure an easy win…”

Beryn Garth laughed. “An easy win. What a stupid concept. It’s hardly a win at all if it’s easy. No, I put a lot of hard work into this weekend. Planning, logistics, ambushes, planting spies…”

Chloe looked up. “Spies?”

“Yes. Spies.”

It wasn’t Beryn who had said that.

Rachel Amber walked past him, brushed her hair out of her face, and smiled at Chloe. Beryn Garth put an arm around her. She let him keep it there, and cozied up next to him.

Someone with more genre savvy might have said, “DUN dun DUNNNNN,” but all Chloe could muster in that moment was, “fuuuuuck..?”


	8. Rival

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone! Writing this story has been an amazingly good time, and reading all your feedback has been hugely rewarding. As a heads up, we're in the endgame now - after this chapter, there will be the 'Final Boss', followed by a short epilogue. These final entries should be up later in the week. I'll probably include some more in depth than usual author's notes with the epilogue.
> 
> I hope you all enjoy LARP is Strange, Chapter 8 - Rival!

A group of LARPers (A herd? A flock? A gaggle? Etymologists are still locked in debate) made its way through the grounds of their grand game.

Like most organisms in nature, this group had formed into a distinct hierarchy. At the front, the largest and strongest among them led the group, guiding them purposefully towards their destination. The rest fanned out behind the alpha, with trusted generals towards the front, and nameless goons towards the back.

But the absolute bottom of the totem pole were those stuck in the middle, around whom the rest of the group had encircled to ensure their compliance. Two females and one male, the females walking in solemn acceptance of their situation, the male thrashing furiously at the bindings holding his wrists together behind his back.

“Hey, you,” Frank said, nodding his head to one of the nameless goons nearby. “Do you like drugs? I’ve got a looot of drugs with your name on them if you unlock these cuffs.”

“Silence, prisoner!” the LARPer said, though his voice quavered and cracked slightly.

“Alright, you want to play it that way, that’s fine, that’s fine,” Frank said, slowly nodding. He thought for a moment, then said, “do you like having an alive family and a house that hasn’t burned down? Because I WILL MURDER YOUR FAMILY AND BURN YOUR FUCKING HOUSE DOWN--”

“Stun!” another LARPer called out, and bopped Frank over the head with a foam sword. The enraged dealer spun around on his new assailant.

“You did NOT just fucking bop me,” he snarled. “You do not want to play Bop-It against me, buddy, I will twist your fucking arm until it rips off--”

“Stun!” the first guard said, using his own faux weapon to bop Frank over the head now that his back was turned.

“STOP IT!” Frank shrieked. “Fine! I’m stunned! I give up! Fuck!”

“Wow, a Bop-It reference, that’s topical,” Steph muttered under her breath. “Your dealer always this much of a spaz, Chloe?”

Chloe said nothing.

“...Chloe? Barb? Yoohoo?”

“Huh?” Chloe asked, finally looking over at her.

Steph saw the vacant, empty look on her face. “Hey, what’s up? You okay?”

“Of course I’m not okay!” Chloe snapped. “Rachel! How...how could she do this to us?”

Steph laughed. “What, is that all? Chloe, she’s obviously lying to Beryn Garth to get closer to the Well of Souls. Remember what she said earlier? Everything she does she does for you? This has to be what that was about.”

“And she couldn’t have told us?” Chloe asked. “‘Hey, Chloe, I know I just fucked you a few hours ago, but now I’m going to let the biggest piece of shit in a 10 mile radius put his hands all over me, k, bye?’”

Steph furrowed her brow. “Okay, fair enough, that was probably an unnecessary level of dedication to the role, but she’s a drama kid at heart. You know how she is.”

“Yeah,” Chloe said. “I do know how she is. That’s what’s so fucking depressing about this...how unsurprising it is.”

She watched Rachel, swaying slightly with each step, not so much walking as strutting, perfectly aware of how her tight black outfit made her look, and the effect it was no doubt having on all the boys behind her, not to mention the two lesbians.

“You’re staring at her ass,” Steph pointed out.

“Yeah,” Chloe said with a resigned sigh. “God damnit. Why did I think I could handle this? Why did I ever think I could keep up with Rachel Amber?”

“So where are you taking us?” Steph called out, raising her voice to direct at Beryn and Rachel. They both turned, and shared the same mischievous smirk.

“Exactly where you wanted to go,” Beryn Garth said. “The Well of Souls!”

“Why?” Chloe asked, looking between them and trying to suppress the urge to vomit.

“You can’t just access a super-powerful, campaign-ending artifact on a whim,” Beryn Garth explained. “It requires sacrifice.”

“Your sacrifice, to be specific,” Rachel said, winking at Chloe.

“I admit, I was skeptical when Quen here sought me out after the opening ceremony, but she was very insistent that she had a villainous heart, and could be very useful to me so long as she pretended to remain part of your cause,” Beryn Garth went on.

“What can I say,” Rachel added with a shrug. “I like playing for both teams.”

Chloe could feel her blood boiling. It must have been noticeable on the outside, too, as Steph reached out and grabbed her hand. It was...nice. She calmed down, a bit.

Rachel saw this, frowned, and quickly turned back around, facing straight ahead.

They marched for some time in silence - well, near-silence, if you didn’t count Frank’s occasional random cursing.

Chloe looked down as they walked, and noticed a rocky patch beneath their feet. A bit of blood was smeared over it.

She squeezed Steph’s hand, and she followed Chloe’s gaze down towards it.

“I was here,” Chloe whispered. “We must be close…”

The group kept going a bit further beyond that. Just outside the grove where Chloe had fallen, hidden by the thinnest layer of trees, was a series of open structures that Chloe surely would have noticed had she not been hallucinating. A small fence had been set up in a circle, with stands set up around it, and a surprisingly tall set of stairs leading up to a makeshift throne. The whole thing put Chloe in mind of Gladiator, a movie she had greatly enjoyed but was less eager to act out.

“Welcome to the Well of Souls!” Beryn Garth said, spinning around to face them with his arms stretched out. “To go along with the theme of ritual sacrifices, I’ve decided to turn it into a coliseum of sorts. Like...have you seen the movie Gladiator?”

“No, it sounds like a dumb movie only terrible morons would like,” Chloe snapped, and took a small amount of pleasure in watching his face deflate.

“It’s not a dumb-- screw you!” Beryn Garth shot back. Chloe watched him ascend the stairs to his throne. Chloe watched, her mind churning. Her outbursts seemed to fluster him. No doubt he had grown use to sycophants doing whatever he wanted.

“I’m confused, aren’t you going to kill us now?” Steph asked, as she, Chloe, and Frank were ushered towards the circular, fenced-off arena.

Beryn Garth sat down, facing the crowd, looking down on all of them. “Not yet,” he said. “I’ve had some special requests.”

Rachel hopped the fence into the arena. Her eyes sparkled with mischief. Chloe knew that look. Every other time she had seen it, it had filled her with excitement. Now...she didn’t know what she was feeling.

“Come on, ladies!” Rachel said with a grin. “I’m sick of walking. I’ve got hit points to burn! Let’s FIGHT!”

She reached behind her and pulled out two plastic daggers. Chloe blinked a few times. Somewhere in the crowd, a poor sap called out, “hey, those are mine, how did you--”

“Thief,” Rachel explained. “I’m roleplaying one, too.” She winked.

That wink.

Chloe had seen it so many times, and from the first, it had been for her. Rachel letting her in on a little secret. On a special moment, shared just between the two of them. How many people did she wink at, though? Was there anyone she wouldn’t fix with that mischievous look, that sly smile, that running of a hand through her hair in a way that was simultaneously so nonchalant, yet so seductive…

Frank looked like he was about to say something, but Chloe held up an arm and hit him in the chest.

“No,” she said. “She’s mine.”

She ran forward and leapt the fence as well.

“You know, there are gates,” Beryn Garth called out. “Oh well...this should be interesting. And remember, Quen!” his booming voice rang out across the grove. “If your intent is to try and help this former comrade of yours, you will still be hopelessly outnumbered. Treason will not be tolerated.”

Rachel rolled her eyes, stretching her arms. “This guy sounds just like Principal Wells, doesn’t he?” she asked Chloe. “It’s all rules this and plots that. He really knows how to suck the fun out of a pretend war.”

“Rachel…” Chloe said, clenching her fists.

“Come on!” she replied. “This is going to be fun! Admit it, you never saw this twist coming! I knew it was exactly what we needed to spice up this weekend!”

“Spice up?” Chloe babbled.

“It’s improv, Chloe!” Rachel said. “Like those games we played, where we made up stories for those other couples at the park? Only now we’re making up stories for ourselves! Isn’t this more interesting?”

“Interesting?” Chloe said, again.

“What is with you?” Rachel asked. The two were circling each other. People in the audience were getting antsy, waiting for something to happen. “You’re acting like I actually betrayed you. Chloe, none of this is real!”

“Alright, somebody start rolling for their attacks,” Beryn Garth called out. Steph took out her dice to roll for Chloe, facing off against a goon of Beryn’s who was prepared to roll for Rachel.

“Oh, nice,” Steph said. “Chloe, you won initiative, so feel free to--”

“AUUUUGGGGH!!!!” Chloe screamed, and charged at Rachel. She grabbed her around the waist and flew to the ground, dragging Rachel with her.

“Uhh,” Steph said.

“Hah! Broke your grapple!” Rachel’s roller called out.

Rachel rolled over, rather effortlessly knocking Chloe off of her, and gaining the upper hand.

“There we go! That’s the fighting spirit!” Rachel cheered.

“WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?” Chloe screamed. “Why is nothing ever real to you!? Why can’t you just be a normal person!?”

“Hit!” Steph called out.

Chloe thrust her hands up and shoved Rachel backwards. The two got to their feet, and began circling each other again.

“Me? I’m the one who isn’t normal?” Rachel shot back. “I’m sorry, which of us is the junkie that just got expelled from school?”

“Hit!”

Rachel charged in and grabbed Chloe by the hair. “Boo hoo! I’m Chloe Price! Nobody is miserable except me! I’m the only one with problems! It’s all about ME!”

“Hit!”

Chloe grabbed Rachel’s hair in turn. Now they were tugging on each other, spinning around in circles.

“Yes! I’m fucked up!” Chloe yelled. “I’m fucking sorry my dad died, and that my best friend abandoned me! I’m fucking sorry, clearly that’s all my fault!”

“Miss!”

Chloe let go and took a swing at Rachel, who effortlessly dodged backwards. “I took ballet, Chloe, you’re going to have to be more graceful than that.”

“Hit!”

Rachel grappled for Chloe’s arm, twisting it and holding her in place.

“And no, it is NOT your fault that your dad died, or that Max left, but it isn’t MY fault either!” Rachel yelled back. “You can’t keep turning everything I do into some neurotic conspiracy that I’m playing some awful prank on you or am just waiting for someone better to come along! You need to start trusting me!”

“Hit!”

Chloe broke free, and managed to slap Rachel’s hand, knocking one of her daggers away. “Why should I trust you, Rachel? Everything is a game to you! Not just this, but every conversation is just flirting and playing! I want something real! I want to know that I mean something to you!”

“Miss!”

Rachel went to slap Chloe, who ducked at the last moment.

“Don’t you get it?” Rachel cried. “You’re the only one I AM really me around! I don’t know how many times I need to say this to you! This is me, Chloe! If you don’t like it, then I’m sorry. I really am!”

“Hit!”

Chloe grabbed Rachel’s hair again, pulling her head in close. “I do like it!” she said. “I’ve never been happier! But that just means when you leave, I’ll be the most miserable I’ve ever been! I don’t think I can handle that!”

“Hit!”

Rachel wrapped her hands around the back of Chloe’s head.

“Chloe!” she snapped. “Every time you imply that I’m going to leave you, it breaks my fucking heart! I love you!”

“H-hit..?”

The grove had fallen silent. Chloe and Rachel both had tears in their eyes.

“...You do?” Chloe asked.

“Yes, stupid,” Rachel said. She sniffed. “I’m sorry. You’re not stupid. I like being playful. I like pretending to be a bitch. Chloe, I thought it was obvious, but if it needs to be said, I’ll say it every day for the rest of our lives. I love you. You’re the most important thing in the world to me. I meant what I said, earlier. Everything I do...EVERYTHING...I do for you. It may seem odd. It may not make sense, it may confuse you or upset you or hurt you. But that’s because I’m a little bit fucked up too, just like you are. It doesn’t change the fact that you’re my world. You’re all I want.”

“...I love you too,” Chloe said, so soft she barely heard it herself. And then they were kissing. And it was real. They were dressed as fantasy characters standing in a pretend arena, and it was the most real moment Chloe had ever experienced.

“I’m so sorry,” Rachel said. “I should have called the whole betrayal arc off after you had your panic attack last night. I thought you’d be okay. I thought we’d be okay. I never wanted to hurt you. Never, ever--”

“Hit.”

Rachel took a step back from Chloe. A tiny nerf dart had bounced off of her chest. She looked down at herself, then up at Beryn Garth, who had descended from his throne, and stood at the edge of the arena, nerf crossbow in hand.

“Oh,” she said, and then - never one to miss a dramatic beat - collapsed to the ground.

“Rach-- I mean, Quen?” Chloe slowly knelt down. She held up Rachel’s limp hand. “Quen?”

“Not the sacrifice I expected,” Beryn Garth called out. “But one that will suffice nonetheless. The Well of Souls has been sated. Ultimate power is mine to command.”

Chloe stood up. Her adrenaline was running wild. The lines between her real anxieties and this make believe war had gotten blurred time and time again. She turned around. The one who had stolen Mikey’s necklace, who had pitted her and Rachel against each other, who had turned this entire event into his own personal ascent to Godhood. Beryn Garth.

“I don’t think so,” she said, holding up her fists.

Beryn Garth laughed. “I’m sorry, have you not witnessed me slaughter characters three times your level this weekend? Who exactly are you, to stand between me and my aspirations?”

Chloe looked around at the crowd. Everyone was watching her. And it seemed like everyone was watching her with hope.

“My name is Barb. I’m an Elf Barbarian. You killed my Elf girlfriend.”

She cracked her knuckles.

“Prepare to fucking die.”


	9. Final Boss

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is it! The Grande Finale! The epilogue (which will be very short) will be up TOMORROW, with more authors notes and me saying "thank you" about 50 billion times. For now...enjoy!

This was it.

The final battle.

Good versus evil.

It all hinged on this one moment.

“Prepare to meet your doom!” said the stick in Mikey’s left hand.

“Hahaha! I will make KINDLING out of you!” said the stick in Mikey’s right hand.

They clashed against each other for about three seconds before Mikey sighed and threw them both on the ground.

“This sucks. I hate being dead.”

He looked around the camp. He could have sworn there were more eliminated LARPers here earlier this morning. Where the hell did everyone go?

He noticed another kid, allegedly dead like him, slipping into his costume and sneaking off into the forest. Mikey ran after him.

“Hey! What’s going on? Where’s everyone going?” he asked.

“Just got a text from one of my buddies. Some crazy duel going on between two chicks at Beryn Garth’s camp,” the other LARPer explained.

Mikey frowned. A crazy duel between two chicks? So that would be Chloe, Rachel, and/or Steph, but why would they be dueling each other?

“Oh, shit, I just got another text,” the other LARPer said. “They stopped fighting and now they’re making out! I gotta get over there!”

Without waiting for Mikey, he rushed off.

“That...is unsurprising, yet doesn’t answer any questions,” Mikey said to himself. Still, he figured he should get over there too. Not to watch his friends smooch each other - that would be a bit weird. But if some crazy fighting was going on, they might need all the help they could get.

But first, with a resigned sigh, he went to Steph’s tent and found her bag. Making a mental note to apologize to her later for this invasive behaviour, he reached into it and began shuffling through the extra character sheets she always brought with her.

“Alright, come on, there’s gotta be one in here with it...aha! Ah...ha..?”

He looked down at the character sheet. It had the highest sneak score of the bunch.

“Well...better get into costume…”

 

Chloe dove to the side, rolling across the grass as Beryn Garth’s axe slammed into the spot she had just been standing. The thick foam edge left a small divot in the earth.

“Stay still!” Beryn Garth seethed, as he lifted his axe back up.

“Uhh...no?” Chloe quipped, before diving to the side yet again.

“You aren’t even rolling to see if you can dodge! This is totally improper!” Swing, miss.

“I wrote her character sheet, dude,” Steph called out. “She can dodge you all night. Maybe next time bring a weapon that isn’t the physical manifestation of overcompensation?”

Beryn Garth let out a scream, swinging his axe down again, missing again. Chloe scrambled back to her feet. Okay, so her character could do this all day, but she wasn’t sure she could. Skipping gym class to smoke had seemed like such a good idea at the time!

“Fine then!” Beryn Garth shouted, grabbing his own dice. “If I cannot defeat you with brute strength, I shall simply call upon my Goddess to smite you!”

He rolled. The crowd gasped. “18! Good enough. Dodge as much as you like, Elf. In 3 turns, my channeled spell will melt your bones to ash!”

“3 turns? Well how the fuck long is that?” Chloe asked, turning to look at Steph.

“Uhh...well, it depends on what you do,” Steph said, thinking hard. “Don’t panic, we can get out of this. You just need to break his channeling somehow.”

“I’m open to suggestions!” Chloe waved her arms frantically as she spoke. She did NOT come this far just to get incinerated now.

Steph wracked her brain. “Ahhh...errr...well, you don’t have shield bash, or silence, or counterspell...I mean, you do have taunt, and if he were to break the channeling himself to attack you…”

Chloe perked up at that. She looked to Beryn, still standing there in a dramatic pose, hands stretched out before him. She recalled all the times this weekend he had gotten flustered, annoyed, utterly pissed off at Chloe’s refusal to play along and treat him like the God he thought he was.

There had been times throughout her life when having a smart mouth had gotten her into a lot of trouble...but other times when it had gotten her out of it. She always looked forward to those.

It was time for some backtalk.

“Hey, Beryn,” she called out, turning back to walk over to him. “How many turns do you think it would take me to describe how pathetic your life is? I’m guessing a lot, right?”

“Your taunts mean nothing to me, wench,” he snarled. “Victory is mine. I have full confidence in the power of my Goddess. So go, flap your mouth all you like.”

“I’ve got to wonder why you put so much thought into everything here,” Chloe said. “You practically bragged about all the effort you poured into this one weekend pretending to be someone you’re not.”

“You insult all LARPers with your prattle!” Beryn Garth retaliated. “Even your dear friend Elamon. He puts just as much energy into this as me. Do you think so lowly of him as well?”

“No,” Chloe went on, only hesitating for a moment. “Because...because Mikey is a kid. And his life...his life is shit,” she said, realization suddenly hitting. “His mom isn’t around, his dad is broke and homeless, and his older brother is a douchebag meathead mixed up with drug dealers. Meanwhile he’s stuck at Blackwell, a cliquish hellhole that could suck the life out of someone twice his size. He needs Elamon.”

“Perhaps my life is just as bad,” Beryn Garth said, with an exaggerated pout. “Perhaps you should pity me, not hate me?”

“No...no, I don’t think so,” Chloe went on. “Elamon and Beryn Garth are both answers to the bullies of the world. But they’re different answers. Mikey created a hero. He wanted to save the world from the bullies. Protect the downtrodden, defend the weak. Everything Mikey wishes he could do, but can’t, because he’s still just a kid. But he’s a good person. A hell of a lot better than you. Because you created a bully. You can’t beat them in real life, so you emulate them in fantasy. You steal from teenagers because you can’t get anything from people your own age. You prey on kids because nobody older than us would take this shit from you. But you made a fatal mistake.”

Beryn Garth’s grip on his axe was so tight that his knuckles were turning white.

“You messed with Mikey North. And Steph Gingrich. And Rachel Amber. And when you mess with any of them, you mess with Chloe fucking Price. You stupid, pathetic, weak, overgrown child!”

“AAAUGGGH!” Beryn Garth screamed, bringing his axe down.

Chloe dodged.

“Spell canceled!” Steph called out, to raucous cheers from the crowd. Even Beryn Garth’s own ‘loyal servants’ were cheering for Chloe.

“You hear that?” Chloe asked. “Nobody here wants you to win! We’re sick of you constantly thinking you can get away with anything! How many ‘trophies’ have you stolen, huh? How many necklaces, family heirlooms, things that have value to other people did you take because you COULD?”

“You’re lucky you have nothing I want, you skank!” he screamed, swinging his axe again. Chloe dodged again, but narrowly. He was clearly trying to hit her for real now. Yikes.

“Just because I get more pussy than you doesn’t make me a skank,” Chloe said, dancing around him. “That would mean literally everybody who’s seen a vagina counts as one.”

“SHUT! UP!”

“Uh, Chloe,” Steph called out nervously.

“Not counting your mom’s vagina, when you came out of it, I mean. Though I bet a lot of people have seen that one, specifically.”

“Chloe?”

“Hell, I’ve probably banged your mom, and I just came out, like, yesterday.”

“Chloe!”

“What?”

“I rolled a one,” Steph said, biting her lip nervously. “You, uh...you failed a dodge.”

“...Shit.”

“Hah!” Beryn Garth called out. “All of this was for naught, as I knew it would be.” He hefted his axe, raised it up over his head. “Stay still. This is going to hurt.”

“STUN!”

Beryn Garth turned. Chloe turned. Steph turned. Rachel, still laying on the ground, tilted her head.

There stood Mikey, flowing pink robes draped off of him, arm outstretched, star wand in hand.

“Uh,” Beryn Garth said.

“Er,” Chloe said.

“Huh,” Steph said.

Mikey rolled his eyes. “I know, okay? Norsa the Fairy was the only character sheet with a high stealth skill! You’re welcome, by the way! You all have a safe turn while I hold him in place! I recommend you use it!”

“One turn will make no difference,” Beryn Garth said. “You cannot hold me for longer than that, and then the slaughter will resume.”

“How close can I get to the Well of Souls in one turn?” Steph asked.

“Pretty close,” Mikey answered.

“What?” Beryn Garth’s eyes went wide. “NO! Don’t you DARE!”

Steph darted past him, towards the lone rock that had been subtly marked with runic symbols to signify the Well of Souls.

“Stop! You’ve exceeded your movement range! Turn over!” Beryn Garth screamed. He was starting to sweat. “You’re a necromancer, not a barbarian. You have no defense or dodge skill to speak of. I will strike you down with Thrown Weapon! HYAAAGH!”

He tossed his axe. It landed about six inches in front of him.

“That was pathetic,” Chloe said with a laugh.

“Yeah, but his rolls aren’t,” called out the goon with his dice. “Critical hit. Arithiel is dead.”

“Fuck!” Steph swore. With a great deal of reluctance, she lowered herself to the grass.

“ENOUGH OF THIS!” Beryn Garth picked his axe back up. He shot an irritated glance at Chloe. “I shall dispose of you soon enough, but I am sick of waiting! First, to claim the Well of Souls, and my rightful prize--”

He looked at the rock.

 

There was a hand on the rock.

The hand was attached to an arm.

The arm was attached to Frank Bowers.

“Wh--” Beryn Garth began.

“Oh, right,” Mikey said. “I also used my stealth score to steal the keys to the handcuffs and free the Druid before I stunned you. Just in case.”

“Look,” Frank said, “I don’t know what the fuck this rock is, and frankly, I don’t give a shit.” He straightened up, and grinned. “All I know is you really seem to want it, which means I really want you to NOT have it.”

“You don’t care about the Well,” Beryn Garth said, nervously. “What do you want, money? Women? Power? I can get you any of it! Just...just let me have it. Please. Please, I need this.”

“Alright, kid,” Frank said, looking to Mikey, and pointedly ignoring Beryn Garth’s begging. “I touched the thingy, like you said. Now what?”

“Druids have healing and resurrection magic!” Steph called out from the ground. “He can resurrect Elamon! You can end this, Mikey! You can win!”

Mikey looked at Steph for a long moment. Then he looked at Beryn Garth, then Chloe, then finally back to Frank.

“No,” he said. “Point at Chloe, wiggle your arms, and say, ‘Treant’s Touch’!”

Frank looked from Mikey to Chloe then back again. “Uh,” he said. “I really don’t want to do that.”

“Trust me!”

Frank sighed. He waved his arm very half-heartedly towards Chloe. “Treant’s, uh, Touch,” he said.

Chloe smiled sweetly at him. “Thank you for touching me with your treant, Frank.”

“Okay, you kids have fun, I’m going to go fucking kill myself, bye.”

“Now, Chloe!” Mikey said. “Your strength has been empowered! With Beanzebub’s Empowered Treant’s Touch, any of your melee abilities will decimate Beryn Garth!”

“NO!” Beryn Garth screamed. “NO, THIS ISN’T FAIR! I PLANNED TOO LONG FOR THIS! YOU CAN’T RUIN MY WEEKEND! IT ISN’T FAIR! IT ISN’T FAIR!”

“Any melee ability, eh?” Chloe mused. She raised her fist into the air. “BARB!”

(( AUTHOR’S NOTE: LISTEN TO THIS WHILE READING THE REST OF THIS SCENE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CSav51fVlKU ))

The chant started with Rachel. Soon Mikey and Steph picked up on it, and then it was carrying across the grove. A dozen voices, then two dozen, then three dozen. Every LARPer at the event seemed to have gathered, and were watching the battle unfold, and now they were all chanting in unison:

“BARB! BARB! BARB! BARB!”

“MEGA!” Chloe shouted.

“BARB! BARB! BARB! BARB!”

“PUUUUUUUUUUUUUNNNNNNNNCCCCCCHHHHH!!!!!!!!”

“No! Stay away from me!” Beryn Garth cried, backing up.

Chloe charged.

She could feel the grass crunch under her feet. The blood pump through her veins. The chants of nerds from all across Oregon calling her name. Well, a name, anyway.

Beryn Garth was backing away from her, eyes wide with fear. “No,” he mouthed, the sound penetrating through Chloe’s senses in slow motion. “She’s not allowed to actually punch me! She knows that, right? She can’t actually hit me!”

Chloe was screaming, an incomprehensible stream of noise as she pumped forward, relentlessly forward, eyes narrowing, target growing ever closer.

“Here!” Beryn Garth was saying. He had pulled Mikey’s necklace out of his vest, and threw it on the ground. “You want it back? Fine, take it! Just leave me and my character alone!”

The scream drowned out all other sound. The chanting of her name, the pleas of Beryn Garth, her own footfalls. All she could hear now was herself, a primal, barbaric roar of triumph.

“AAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!!”

Her fist connected with Beryn Garth’s face. In slow motion she watched it ripple across his cheek, connect with his jaw, cause spittle to fly from his mouth.

“NOOOOOOOUGGGGGGGHHHHBLBLBLBLB!!!!!!!”

His entire body shifted under the weight of the Barb Mega Punch. After a moment that felt like an eternity, Chloe’s fist moved past him, and for another eternity or two, Beryn Garth stood there, teetering back and forth.

Then, slowly, he tipped forward. Like a great oak he collapsed to the earth, all of his impressive amount of weight slamming into the ground, face first. He lay there, out cold.

Chloe looked from him, then up to her fist, which was still hanging in the air.

“Oops,” she said. “I, uh, may have gotten carried away.”

The sound of her own ferocious scream faded from her ears, and was replaced by the roar of the crowd, some still chanting her name, others just cheering incoherently. Chloe turned to face them, blushing awkwardly, then held up her (admittedly sore) fist in triumph.

Her adrenaline-heightened senses let her know at the last moment that something was approaching her from behind at high speed. She spun around, expecting a retaliation from Beryn, but it was Rachel, leaping into her arms. Literally - leaping into the air and forcing Chloe to catch her. They spun around, as Rachel pressed her lips against Chloe’s furiously kissing her. Chloe managed to hold her girlfriend up for a few rotations, but then they collapsed, Rachel landing on top of Chloe, still kissing her passionately.

“Wow,” Chloe said, when it was over for the moment.

“You just avenged me by beating someone unconscious,” Rachel said. “I’m sorry, but that’s fucking hot.”

Chloe grinned, and leaned up to initiate a second round of making out. Now a new chant was rising up, one not quite as primal and triumphant, but no less contagious as it swept through the crowd:  
“Nice.”

“Niiiiice.”

“Nice.”

“Nice,” Steph said, nodding.

Chloe and Rachel were now starting to paw at each other in addition to kissing. Steph quickly cleared her throat.

“Okay, everybody, pack it up!” she called out. “Move along, nothing to see here!”

There were a few groans of disappointment in the crowd, but by and large they started to be corralled out of the grove by Steph and Mikey.

“Give the ladies some space! Yes, I see you over there in the bushes, buddy! Let’s go, don’t be that guy!”

Their voices faded into the distance. So did everything else. To Chloe and Rachel, all that mattered in that moment was each other.

 

(( Okay, if you’re a fast reader, you can stop listening to the song now. ))

 

If Chloe never saw another 6 AM as long as she lived, that would be fine.

“Chlooooeeeeee,” Rachel cooed from somewhere above her.

“What? I’m exhausted. I just spent two full days running around in a forest fighting an imaginary war with weirdly real stakes, getting filled with anxiety, having to face my demons, and finally reaching a new level of trust and partnership with my girlfriend, who is also the first person I’ve ever said I love you to. That was both physically and emotionally draining so I’ve earned an extra few hours of sleep.”

Of course, by the time that reached her mouth, it had all melted into, “Huuunngggghhhh.”

“Our bus is leaving soon! Arcadia Bay is waiting to be conquered by Barb the Barbarian!”

“Fuuuuuh,” Chloe said.

“They’re serving breakfast. Bacon omelettes AND belgian waffles. I already reserved you one of each because hey, who wants to choose?”

“Buuuuuh,” Chloe said.

Still. She got up, got dressed, and went with Rachel out to eat.

To her surprise, and severe embarrassment, everyone applauded when she left her tent.

“You’re a hero,” Rachel said, grinning and bumping up against her. “They’re going to be telling the story of Barb for years.”

“Great,” Chloe said, yawning. They made their way through the cheering crowd, and found where Mikey and Steph were sitting.

“...Hey,” she said, joining them. “Guys, I...I’m sorry, again, that I got you all banned for life. I shouldn’t have actually punched Beryn Garth. I knew there was a rule against actual violence, but, uh…”

“Are you kidding?” Mikey said. “That was EPIC. As final LARPs go, watching you avenge Elamon by punching Beryn Garth to death was as perfect as I could have hoped for.”

“Yeah, I have absolutely no complaints,” Steph said, grinning as she stuffed a bite of omelette into her mouth. “I can’t remember having that much fun at one of these before.”

“But...Elamon is dead,” Chloe went on. “We failed to resurrect him…”

Mikey shrugged. “I know. But...I heard what you said, Chloe. About how I made Elamon to do the heroic things I wish I could do myself. And you were right. I think...I think maybe I don’t need Elamon, anyway.” He smiled. “I think it’s time to just play Mikey North for a bit. Who knows...with Chloe Price as a mentor, he could turn out to be a real badass.”

That made Chloe blush more brightly than anything ever had in her life.

Breakfast tasted great. Second breakfast tasted great, too. Chloe was on her way to third breakfast, when the buses started getting ready to leave. With a sigh, she gave a tearful goodbye to the food tables, and joined Rachel, Steph and Mikey.

“You sure you’re ready to head back to Arcadia Bay?” Chloe asked, grabbing Rachel’s hand.

“Yeah,” Rachel said. “This was nice, but...we can do better. When we finally leave for good, we’ll be ready.”

“Yeah,” Chloe agreed. “And in the meantime, maybe Arcadia Bay isn’t SO bad...as long as you’re there.”

Rachel leaned in and kissed her. “Yeah,” she said. “Same to you. Quen may be dead, but Rachel isn’t leaving. Not without you, Chloe Price. Never without you. I love you.”

“I love you too,” Chloe said. It sounded wonderful.

They went home, and it was.


	10. Epilogue

This was the spot.

Somehow, she just knew.

Quen had fallen right...here. And over…let’s see...here was where she had punched Beryn Garth out cold. Which would mean right...yes, right here was where Rachel had tackled her to the ground.

These memories hurt like hell. But they were wonderful.

She had learned so much the past few years. And while all of it had been necessary to forge her into the person she had needed to be, into the person she was right now, there was so much that she wished she could have gone her whole life without learning.

Rachel had fooled around with Frank behind her back.

Rachel had attempted to leave Arcadia Bay without her.

Rachel had gotten wrapped up with Mark Jefferson.

Rachel had been murdered.

Even with everything else that had happened - with Max coming back, with the storm, with the supernatural running wild, with Arcadia Bay getting stomped into the fucking ground - every time her thoughts went to the darkest place they could, in the moments where Chloe felt there was no hope, no joy left in the world, it all came back to Rachel.

How could she have done this?

But now she stood here, alone. Max had agreed to let her go on this trek by herself, though they had been by each other's side non stop since the fall of Arcadia Bay. She stood here, a spot that had lent itself to wonderful memories, memories of budding teenage love and fun and joy, and it all came flooding back.

_“Can I at least put on a hoodie or something?” she asked, still blinking the tears out of her eyes from the sunlight. “I’m freezing.”_

_“Chloe!” Rachel said again, and there was something in her voice, something that Chloe couldn’t quite place._

_“What?” Chloe asked, covering herself up with her arms._

_“You look...stunning.”_

_Chloe saw in Rachel’s eyes the same look Chloe herself got when she looked at Rachel._

_“I’m sorry,” Chloe said. “I know you wanted to be here this weekend--”_

_“No,” Rachel said, cutting her off. “I wanted to be with YOU this weekend. I don’t care what we do or where we do it. I just want you to be there with me.”_

_The footfalls were nearly on top of them. Chloe was turned to face Rachel, who leaned into her._

_“You trust me, right?” Rachel hissed._

_“Wh-” Chloe began, but Rachel put a finger over her mouth._

_“Everything I do, I do for you,” she said. “Remember it!”_

_“Chloe!” she snapped. “Every time you imply that I’m going to leave you, it breaks my fucking heart! I love you!”_

_“H-hit..?”_

_The grove had fallen silent. Chloe and Rachel both had tears in their eyes._

_“...You do?” Chloe asked._

_“Yes, stupid,” Rachel said. She sniffed. “I’m sorry. You’re not stupid. I like being playful. I like pretending to be a bitch. Chloe, I thought it was obvious, but if it needs to be said, I’ll say it every day for the rest of our lives. I love you. You’re the most important thing in the world to me. I meant what I said, earlier. Everything I do...EVERYTHING...I do for you. It may seem odd. It may not make sense, it may confuse you or upset you or hurt you. But that’s because I’m a little bit fucked up too, just like you are. It doesn’t change the fact that you’re my world. You’re all I want.”_

_“...I love you too,” Chloe said, so soft she barely heard it herself. And then they were kissing. And it was real. They were dressed as fantasy characters standing in a pretend arena, and it was the most real moment Chloe had ever experienced._

_Rachel leaned in and kissed her. “Yeah,” she said. “Same to you. Quen may be dead, but Rachel isn’t leaving. Not without you, Chloe Price. Never without you. I love you.”_

Chloe couldn’t see. She was crying so hard, as hard as she had been when she had first learned the truth of Rachel’s murder. But now there was something almost...calming in her tears.

She hadn’t been able to stop asking herself if any of it had been real. If Rachel had ever truly loved her, if it had all been lies and tricks and manipulation. If she had ever really known Rachel Amber at all. But the memories...the memories, so vivid in her mind, and in her heart. Seeing the love in her eyes, hearing the sincerity in her voice.

_“Everything I do...EVERYTHING...I do for you. It may seem odd. It may not make sense, it may confuse you or upset you or hurt you. But that’s because I’m a little bit fucked up too, just like you are. It doesn’t change the fact that you’re my world. You’re all I want.”_

She hadn’t understood it. It had confused her, upset her, and hurt her. Hurt her so bad she thought she might die.

But she believed it. Maybe it was stupid. Maybe it was naive. She’d never know. She’d never have the chance to learn the truth from Rachel. All she could do was trust her.

She reached for the marker she had brought with her. It felt like an eternity since she had last used it to leave her mark somewhere. Then she went to the Well of Souls - that stupid, tiny, silly rock, with the faux runes that had long since faded.

When she was done, she put the cap back on her marker, wiped the tears out of her eyes, and began to head back to Max.

Behind her, in a grove in the middle of nowhere that meant nothing to anybody:

> “Quen the Raven”  
> Rachel Amber  
> She kept her promise  
> She never left

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry for that.
> 
> So, some more in depth Author's Notes than usual, but first, THANK THE HELL OUT OF ALL OF YOU!!!! It was really great to have you all read and comment on and enjoy this story.
> 
> Someone asked if I'd consider writing more AmberPrice fics once this one was done. The answer is a definite, absolute, set in stone...maybe!
> 
> See, I wrote this one because Before the Storm episode 2 fucked me up. Probably more than any other episode of Life is Strange. Because the relationship between Chloe and Rachel is so beautiful to me, but you can't separate that beauty from the tragedy. Every moment, from the train ride, to the improv session during the play, to the kiss in the neighborhood, is inseparable from the knowledge that, in a few years time, Rachel will be murdered and dumped into an unmarked grave in a junkyard. It's horrible, it's awful, it's heartbreaking...and yet it changes nothing about the moments that came before it. I've seen a lot of discussion among the fandom about Rachel's true motives and her suitability for Chloe. A lot of theorizing that she's been manipulating Chloe from the beginning, that it's all fake, and that Max is the only true love for Chloe. Part of the reason I wrote this story was to give my take on why that isn't necessarily true. To show that Rachel was a deeply flawed character, incredibly fucked up in her own ways, and may have done some things that were unforgivable, but that doesn't negate the love I believe she very truly felt for Chloe during the events of Before the Storm.
> 
> Of course, the other reason I wrote this story was for fun DnD hijinks with Mikey and Steph. That DnD scene in episode 1 is the shit, right? I just morphed it from DnD to LARPing (which, by the way, I've never actually done, so apologies to any real life LARPers out there whose hobby I horrendously misrepresented) because I wanted there to be 'real stakes.' Not, like, 'save the town from a super tornado and stop a serial killer' stakes, but having an OC antagonist to steal Mikey's necklace and pose a genuine threat (sort of) to the happiness and safety of the main characters seemed like a good way to keep the story going. Scenes like Chloe having a panic attack would have been much harder to believably work into a story where they're all just playing DnD in Steph's dorm room.
> 
> If I do write more AmberPrice fics, it won't be until after episode 3 is released. I just couldn't wait. I needed more AmberPrice content, and after reading a bunch of other fanfics here, decided to just write my own! Maybe future fics will be happy and fluffy, maybe they'll be angsty and tragic. IDK. They probably won't be AUs where Rachel managed to survive past the events of LiS though. Unless I think of a really funny one. Never say never I guess.
> 
> So that's that. Thank you all so much once again. I love you all.


End file.
